How a Huottuja (Piaroa) community perceives genuine and false honey from the Venezuelan Amazon, by free-choice profi le sensory method

Abstract

Pot honey is the most abundant honey in the forest, produced by many species of stingless bees (Meliponini) of the Huottuja (Piaroa) community in Paria Grande, Venezuela. However, the commercialization of this honey is low, and false honeys, which are sold in labelled bottles, are easily found in the market. This study has investigated the ability of an untrained panel of Piaroa assessors to differentiate the genuine from the false pot honey using the Free-choice profile. This sensory method allows consumers to use their own words to describe and to quantify sensory attributes of a product. The genuine honeys, light amber Melipona fuscopilosa "isabitto" and dark amber Tetragona clavipes "ajavitte", the false light and dark "angelita" honeys, and the amber Apis mellifera honey, were evaluated. Sensory attributes related to the appearance, color, odor, flavor and mouthfeel were elicited in a qualitative session and were quantified in 10-cm unstructured line scales using individual score sheets. The data were analyzed by Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA). The bidimensional plot successfully separated genuine from false pot honeys. The first dimension (39.50%) was represented by the low viscosity, fermented odor and sour taste, whereas the second dimension (24.69%) was related to fruity and honey odor and flavor. Huottuja assessors differentiated the five honey types in terms of the perceived sensory characteristics.

Greening honey: Producing the underground origins of a forest wonder

“…What green honey fakes are associations with forms of ‘natural’ production which are assembled to suggest the invented origins and composition of bottled honey. This has similarities to, for example, practices in Venezuela where small insects such as ants are placed in bottles of fake honey as imposters of stingless bees, to suggest that the honey is somehow genuine by presence of these alleged producers (Vit et al, 2011: 786). In the Philippines, I met a vendor canvassing honey in Metro Manila who brought sections of honeycomb along with bottled honey to prove his claims about its production.…”

Sensory properties of yellow pea and macadamia honeys from conventional and flow hive extraction methods

“…The sensory analysis of honey has been applied primarily to the characterization and distinction between honeys from different floral sources or from different geographic regions, and it is usually accompanied by compositional analysis. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Some studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of temperature over time on honey's sensory and chemical properties. [19][20][21] However, studies evaluating the effect of honey harvesting method on honey sensory properties are limited.…”

Sensory analysis of honey using Flash profile: A cross‐cultural comparison of Greek and Chinese panels

“…While rapid methods have occasionally been used to evaluate honey (Ferreira, Lencioni, Benassi, Barth, & Bastos, 2009;Gonzalez-Vinas et al, 2002), linked to physicochemical attributes (Siegmund et al, 2017) and for product authentication (Vit, Deliza, & Pérez, 2011); no study to date has used FP to provide insight in cross-cultural sensory perception of honeys from different botanical origins. In this study, a comprehensive investigation of the sensory perception and evaluation of Greek honey was performed, comparing Greek and Chinese subjects using FP, coupled with instrumental analysis of physicochemical (pH, moisture content) and rheological properties.…”