1 AGROBIODIVERSITY f o r i m p r o v i n g n u t r i t i o n , h e a l t h a n d l i f e q u a l i t y 2017There is a need for further study of new and forgotten species of high-yielding plants for the expansion of biodiversity of the forage base of honey bees and the receipt of high-quality commercial products at bee-farms. The aim of research was to explore pollen and honey properties of common chicory (Cichorium intybus L.). The selection of plant samples was carried out in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kirovohrad regions of Ukraine. Standard statistic and morphometric methods, as well as mathematical formulas were used for determining the biological performance indicators. A long flowering period of common chicory was ascertained in the range from 75 to 102 days. Plant productivity indicators for honey bees were established. Biological nectar productivity was in the range from 92.55 to 190.04 g from one common chicory plant. Honey productivity was in the range from 166.59 to 301.34 kg/ha. The biological pollen productivity of one plant of common chicory was in the range from 1.785 to 3.064 g. As a result of pollen analysis of polyfloral honey obtained during the summer of 2016 the pollen grains of common chicory were found in the range from 1 to 27%. Pollen lumps of common chicory in the range from 10 to 80% of the total fee were in polyfloral bee pollen collected during the summer of 2016. The morphometric parameters of the bee pollen were ascertained: the sharping level of the pollen lump was 4 ±0.15 points, the weight of one pollen lump was 7.21 ±0.255 mg, the length of one pollen lump was 3.42 ±0.048 mm, the width of one pollen lump was 2.97 ±0.070 mm. Our further research in this direction may be conducted to determinate of the biologically active components of cichorium honey and bee pollen.

The demand for monofloral, original, and special (functional) kinds of honey, or those with geographical indication, is forecast. At the same time, there is a need to improve the methods for determining the botanical and geographical origin of honey. The purpose of the research was to select and apply a variety of techniques for identifying the botanical origin of honey for its correspondence to acacia species. Samples of honey from the Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro regions extracted in the spring and summer period were used in the research. Organoleptic, physicochemical, NMR spectrometry, and advanced melissopalynology methods were applied. The tests were carried out at the laboratories of the Department of Certification and Standardization of Agricultural Products, NULES, Ukraine; the Ukrainian Laboratory of Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products; and the Bruker BioSpin GmbH company (Germany). According to the research results, the requirements for acacia honey were met by the organoleptic method for samples B1 and B2; by the physicochemical method for A0 and A2; by NMR spectroscopy for not a single sample, all being assessed as polyfloral; and by pollen analysis for B1 and B2. The conducted studies confirm the need for a comprehensive approach to the identification of the botanical origin of honey for its conformity to acacia species. There is a need to review the physicochemical indicators for the compliance of honey with the acacia species obtained in Ukraine. After all, even the modern NMR spectrometry technique indicated that the specially fabricated sample that did not contain acacia pollen grains was acacia honey. Identification of the botanical origin of monofloral honey, in particular acacia, should be carried out in the following sequence: pollen analysis (by dominant pollen grains), safety (presence of antibiotics, pesticides), physicochemical parameters according to international requirements, organoleptic parameters.