The Honey Quality of Apis mellifera with Extrafloral Nectar in Lombok West Nusa Tenggara Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to analyze Apis mellifera honey's quality given extrafloral nectar feed from Arenga pinnata sap and Cocus nucifera sap as stimulatory nutrition. The chemical compositions of honey, such as reducing sugar content, sucrose content, the acidity of honey, moisture content, and diastase enzyme activity, were measured. The comparison between A. mellifera honey's chemical compositions on Arenga pinnata sap and Cocus nucifera sap ware was analyzed using the student t-test (GraphPad Instant Statistical Program). The result from the analysis of reducing sugar content showed that the A. mellifera honey from Cocus nucifera sap (73.69± 0.21%) had a higher (P<0.05) than the Arenga pinnata sap (60.15±2.13%). The significant differences (P<0.05) in the acidity of A. mellifera honey from Arenga pinnata sap (43.00±7.48) compared with Cocus nucifera sap (22.00±2.14). The sucrose content, moisture content, and diastase enzyme activity were not significant differences between the A. mellifera honey from Arenga pinnata sap compared with the A. mellifera honey from Cocus nucifera sap. In conclusion, the chemical compositions of A. mellifera honey with extrafloral nectar (Arenga pinnata sap and Cocus nucifera sap) are good quality and indicate that the honey falls under the limits of international standards. The A. mellifera honey from Cocus nucifera sap has a higher sugar reduction content and lower acidity than the A. mellifera honey from Arenga pinnata sap

Honey quality from the bee Apis cerana, honey potency produced by coconut and sugar palm saps

“…Furthermore, another enzyme in honey is the diastase enzyme that breaks down starch into simple sugars (Da Silva et al 2016). The honey-reducing sugar in our study differed from what was reported by Erwan et al (2020), that honey-reducing sugar from the bee A. mellifera which was produced by extrafloral nectar (sugar palm and coconut saps) ranges from 60.15 to 73.69%. The different reducing sugar may be affected by the different bee species, which impacts their ability to evaporate water in honey, especially when they convert the complex sugars into simple sugars and different seasons when the study is related to temperature and humidity environmental.…”

“…These enzymes are mostly derived from the bee's secretion and only a small portion from the nectar, while the honeydew from the insect's secretion mostly contains invertase enzymes (Da Silva et al 2016). The honey sucrose content in our study differed from Erwan et al (2020), that honey sucrose content from the bee A. mellifera was produced by extrafloral nectar (sugar palm and coconut saps) ranging from 4.21 to 4.40%.…”

“…One of the honey characteristics is that it contains enzymes originating from the bees, pollen, and nectar from plant flowers, but mostly enzymes are added by the bees when they convert nectar into honey (Da Silva et al 2016;Thrasyvoulou et al 2018). The honey diastase enzyme activity in our study differed from what was reported by Erwan et al (2020) that the diastase enzyme activity of honey from the bee A. mellifera was produced by extrafloral nectar (sugar palm and coconut saps) is ranging from 16.48 to 17.12 Schade unit.…”

“…The honey moisture content in our study differed from Wang et al (2021), that honey moisture from the bee A. cerana, which is collected from 42 different honeycombs from China, ranges from 17.03 to 18.44%, 18.65% for A. cerana cerana from Hainan province, China (Wu et al 2020), and 16.99% for A. cerana from Borneo (Malaysian honey) (Moniruzzaman et al 2013). Furthermore, Erwan et al (2020) also reported that the honey moisture produced by the A. mellifera bee by using sugar palm and coconut saps ranges from 19.34 to 20.94%. The different honey moisture content has been reported to be affected by the different geographical origins, impacts the different plant types that can be grown in each region, different environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), and also different bee species, which impact the different ability to evaporate water in the honey.…”

“…Furthermore, Erwan et al (2022) also reported using sugar palm and coconut saps which are each added with sugar palm pollen, can improve the bee A. cerana productivity, such as increasing honey production, brood cell number, and colony weight. In addition, another study showed that the use of extrafloral nectar namely sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) and coconut (Cocos nucifera) saps as the A. mellifera bee feed which is resulting the honey chemical composition (reducing sugar, sucrose, acidity, moisture, and diastase enzyme activity) which are acceptable by Indonesian national standard and the international standard has been regulated by Codex Alimentarius (Erwan et al 2020). However, studies about the chemical composition of honey from the bee A. cerana produced from the sugar palm sap, coconut sap, and their honey potency production from both sap sugar palm and coconut have yet to be studied.…”