Characterisation of Moroccan Spurge (Euphorbia) honeys by their physicochemical characteristics, mineral contents and colour

Abstract

The quality of 27 Moroccan Spurge (Euphorbia) honey samples was assessed. Eight physicochemical parameters and mineral composition were analysed and the CIELAB colour parameters (L * , a * , b * , C Ã ab and h ab ) were determined. Results show no significant differences between the two Euphorbia honey types (Euphorbia officinarum subsp. echinus and Euphorbia regis-jubae honeys) regarding the physicochemical parameters. Sodium and magnesium show average values that can help to differentiate between E. officinarum subsp. echinus and E. regis-jubae honeys. Potassium was quantitatively the most important mineral (66% of the total minerals quantified), while sodium and calcium were present in moderate amounts (20% and 11% of the minerals, respectively). The colour parameters also have shown significant differences between E. officinarum subsp. echinus and E. regis-jubae honeys.Considering the total information from physicochemical, mineral and colour data, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Stepwise Discriminant Analysis (SDA) were carried out to distinguish between the two Euphorbia honey types. PCA showed that the cumulative variance was approximately 56%. The results of SDA showed that parameters with a higher discriminant power

Physicochemical properties of eleven monofloral honey samples produced in Morocco

“…The highest pH value (4.90) was found in Lavender honey while the lowest pH value (3.54) was observed in Reseda honey. These values are in accordance with those reported by Bettar et al (2015) and Chakir et al (2016) for Moroccan honeys. The low pH in honeys is an important factor, which influences texture, stability and shelf-life through the inhibition of microorganism's growth as bacteria require pH values that are between 4 and 8 for growth and survival (Soares, Amaral, Oliveira, & Mafra, 2017).…”

“…The total acidity, which is the sum of free and lactone acidities, was found to be ranged between 23.55 meq/kg for Lavender honey and 43.53 meq/kg for Reseda honey ( Table 2). The results of the present study are in agreement with those reported by Chakir et al (2016) but lower than those reported by Alqarni, Owayss, and Mahmoud (2016) and Bettar et al (2015) for Moroccan and Saudi honeys, respectively. Moreover, the lactonic acidity found in our study are similar to those reported for Mexican (Mondrag on-Cortez, Ulloa, Rosas-Ulloa, Rodr ıguez-Rodr ıguez, & ResendizV azquez, 2013) and Portuguese honeys (Silva et al, 2009), lower than those reported for Turkish honeys ( € Ozk€ ok, Y€ uksel, & Sorkun, 2018) and very higher than those reported for Greek honeys (Karabagias, Badeka, Kontakos, Karabournioti, & Kontominas, 2014).…”

“…It is noteworthy that the Ash value below (0.6%) represents the allowed limit for floral honeys indicating a lack of adulterations with molasses (Soares et al, 2017). These findings are slightly higher than those reported by Aazza et al (2014) and Bettar et al (2015) for Moroccan honey samples. Beekeeping techniques, collecting processes and the material collected by the bees foraging on the flowers can affect the ash composition of honeys.…”

Physicochemical characterization and antioxidant activity of honey withEragrostisspp. pollen predominance

“…The values of pH ranged from 3.57, in S3, to 3.76, in S2 (Table ), which were inferior to those reported by some authors for Moroccan honeys from diverse floral origin (Bettar et al, in press; Diez, Andres, & Terrab, ; Malika, Mohamed, & Chakib, ) or within the pH range reported by Terrab, Vega‐Pérez, Díez, and Heredia (). Free acidity ranged from 8.25 mEq/kg (S5) to 28.65 mEq/kg (S3).…”

Técnicas de análisis multivariado, modelamiento factorial múltiple y PLS-PATH para estudio y clasificación de tipos de mieles venezolanas de los estados de Lara y Yaracuy / Multivariate techniques, factorial multiple analysis and PLS-PATH modeling for study and classification of venezuelan honeys from states of Lara and Yaracuy

“…El contenido de cenizas osciló entre 0,275 (g/100 g. miel) propio de mieles ámbar claro y 0,367 (g/100 g miel), en general las muestras del estado Lara, fueron parecidas a las beneficiadas en las localidades de Yaracuy, concordantes con otras mieles venezolanas analizadas [45] al igual que de Marruecos [54], Eslovenia [55] y diferentes a los observados por investigadores de la IHC [48], este parámetro fue usado para determinar el origen botánico de las mieles. En este estudio, la conductividad eléctrica de muestras al 20% en sólidos solubles presentaron tonalidad ámbar claro (LA) y Ámbar (A) con valores entre 0,692 a 0,777 mS. cm -1 , coincidentes con las observaciones y patrones de mieles de España y Portugal [16].…”