Physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of honey produced by stingless bees(Meliponula beccarii)from the Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was designed to characterize the Physico-chemical and microbiological properties of stingless bee honey (Meliponula beccarii L.) in the Oromia Region, Ethiopia. About thirty-nine (39) honey samples were collected from underground soils through an excavation of natural nests. The study revealed that the mean values of physicochemical parameters for honey samples were: moisture content (30.69±0.29), ash content (0.16±0.01), electrical conductivity (0.44±0.2), pH (3.30±0.03), free acidity (92.39±4.45), HMF (6.58±0.36), fructose (36.48±0.54), glucose (27.67±0.43), sucrose (1.24±0.18), maltose (1.2±0.18) and reducing sugar (64.15±0.75). Stingless bee honey in this study is characterized as possessing higher moisture content and free acidity, but a lower level of sugar as compared to Apis mellifera honey standard. The occurrence of microorganisms in the stingless honey sample ranged from 2.55 x 104to 1.9 x 103CFU/ml for Aerobic Mesophilic, 1.68 x104to 9 x102CFU/ml for yeast, and 1.8 x103to 2 x102CFU/ml for mold. The number of aerobic spore-forming bacteria was at non-detectable levels in all samples while Staphylococci species was detectable only in a sample obtained from Guduru. This indicated that there might be contamination during the harvesting, processing, and storage of stingless bee honey samples. The microbiological and physicochemical properties of stingless bee honey are different from those of A. mellifera honey and need to establish for specific quality standards to promote its commercialization.

Physicochemical and hygienic-sanitary quality of honey marketed in Chókwè city

“…Lower than 1.0×10 CFU/mL for molds and yeasts were found by Finola et al (2007) in their related with chemical and microbiological characterization of honey. Denardi et al (2005), when evaluating the water activity and the contamination of honey by molds and yeasts, verified less than 15 CFU/mL of molds and yeasts in 98.33% of the samples evaluated, and also by Damto et al (2022) studying physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of honey produced by bees, obtained 2x10CFU/mL of molds and 2.5x10 CFU/mL of yeasts.…”