Variations of physicochemical properties of stingless bee honey from different botanical origin in state of Johor, Malaysia

Abstract

Physicochemical parameters analysis was used in the identification of varietal honey from different botanical origin. Botanical origin is one of the important parameter to be known as a quality control to meet the legislated mandatory requirement during commercialization. This study assessed the influence of the botanical origin on the physicochemical properties of stingless bee honey or known as kelulut honey in state of Johor, Malaysia. The honey samples were collected in six different botanical origins namely acacia,coconut, mangrove, starfruit, multifruits and multiflowers produced by bee species of Heterotrigona itama. Tualang honey from bee species of Apis dorsata was included as a positive control. The physicochemical properties in terms of pH, moisture, ash content, electrical conductivity (EC) and colour intensity were measured. The result obtained revealed an average pH (3.40 ± 0.15), moisture (28.9 ± 2.69 g/100g), ash (0.37 ± 0.27 g/100g), electrical conductivity (0.11 ± 0.07) mS/cm, and colour intensity (692 ± 187) mAU. In general, the raw honey from state of Johor presented satisfactory quality according to the result obtained help in honey identification and authenticity as well as to sustain meliponiculture industry in Malaysia.

Melissopalynological analysis of honey produced by two species of stingless bees in Lombok Island, Indonesia

“…Melissopalynological studies on honey produced by nine species of stingless honey bees consisted of Cephalotrigona capitata, Melipona bicolor, M. marginata, M. mondury, M. quadrifasciata, M. scutellaris, M. seminigra, Scaptotrigona xanthotricha, and Tetragonisca angustula have been reported from Brazil (do Nascimento et al 2015). Similar study was for honey produced by Tetragonula iridipennis from India (Vijayakumar and Jeyaraaj 2016), honey of Tetragonula pagdeni from Thailand (Thakodee et al 2018), and honey produced by Heterotrigona itama from Malaysia (Majid et al 2019). However, publications on the diversity of pollen in honey produced by stingless bees from Lombok Island are still very limited.…”

Melissopalynological Study, Phenolic Compounds, and Antioxidant Properties of Heterotrigona itama Honey from Johor, Malaysia

“…Basically, to evaluate honey's radical scavenging potential, the total phenolic and flavonoid contents are directly related to its antioxidant capacity [36]. Previous research showed the total content of phenolic and flavonoid of H. itama honey from different botanical origins in methanol extract ranged from 210.11 ± 0.11 to 413.94 ± 0.56 mg GAE/100 g and 179.36 ± 0.12 to 53.90 ± 1.30 mg RE/100 g, respectively [37]. ese figures are related to botanical sources, where the main pollen sample presents the highest phenolic and flavonoid content.…”

A Review on Recent Progress of Stingless Bee Honey and Its Hydrogel-Based Compound for Wound Care Management

“…The ash content of honey correlates to its mineral content and is influenced by the geographical, environmental, and botanical characteristics of the honey’s origin [ 44 ]. Stingless bee honey has been reported to possess higher ash content than Apis mellifera [ 13 , 14 , 21 , 45 , 46 ].…”

“…This characteristic may also be affected by factors such as light exposure, heat, and duration of storage, as well as enzymatic reactions [ 20 , 49 ]. The darker-colored honey contains a higher quantity of total phenolics, indicating that it may have a high level of bioactivity [ 44 ].…”