Mineral and Botanical Composition of Honey Produced in Chile’s Central-Southern Region

Abstract

The chemical composition and quality of honey depend on the floral and geographical origin, extraction techniques, and storage, resulting in a unique product for each area. Currently, consumers are not only concerned about the chemical composition, quality, and food safety of honey, but also about its origin. The objective of this study was to characterize honeys produced in Chile’s central-southern region from a mineral and botanical perspective, thus adding value through differentiation by origin. Two hundred honey samples were used and underwent analysis such as melissopalynological composition, nutritional composition, and color. Forty-seven melliferous floral species were identified, out of which 24 correspond to exotic species and 23 to native species. Fifty-six percent were classified as monofloral honeys, 2% as bifloral, and 42% as multifloral. Moisture mean values (17.88%), diastase activity (15.53 DN), hydroxymethylfurfural (2.58 mg/kg), protein (0.35%), and ash (0.25%) comply with the ranges established by both the national and the international legislation; standing out as honeys of great nutritional value, fresh, harvested under optimal maturity conditions, and absence fermentation. Regarding color, light amber was prevalent in most territories. The territory where honey was produced, denoted relevant differences in all the parameters studied.

Selected Characteristics of Multifloral Honeys from North-Eastern Romania

“…These values are below 20%, the maximum limit recommended for honey stipulated in Romanian standards and international regulations [28,41]. Moisture content values under this limit were found in many multifloral honey samples: from 13.91% to 15.80% in honey from Portugal [22]; from 17.11% to 17.93% in multifloral honey from Poland [42]; from 17.4% to 18.4% in multifloral honey from Chile [10]; and from 15.9 to 19.6% [13,37,43] in Romanian multifloral honey. It is known that honey is hygroscopic, and its water content is influenced by factors such as floral origin, geographical location, climatic conditions, level of maturity, the harvest season, and the water from the honey must be constantly checked [16].…”

“…Some elements have an important role in the human organism; some other elements are toxic. Potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and phosphorus are the main honey macroelements; microelements such as zinc, copper, manganese, and nickel are present in honey in small amounts and are essential for the normal function of the human body and regulate many biological functions [10,[48][49][50]. The content of potassium ranges from 101.4 mg kg −1 in the S15 honey sample to 1212.6 mg kg −1 in the S2 honey sample.…”

“…Various activities of the beekeepers can influence the quality of honey. However, the main influence on the overall quality of honey is the floral source [6,[8][9][10]. Due to favorable conditions in terms of climate, as well as the diversity of the melliferous 2 of 19 flora, Romania is an important honey producer [11].…”

Qualitative characteristics of four Sicilian monofloral honeys from Apis mellifera ssp. sicula

“…According to the literature (Alves et al, 2013;Bontempo et al, 2017;Lobos et al, 2022), for all types of honey, the most abundant elements were, in decreasing order of concentration, K, Ca, Mg and Na ( The thistle sample was characterised by the following sensory parameters: yellow intensity, crystallization, and ripe fruit odour.…”

Hyperspectral Microscopy Technology to Detect Syrups Adulteration of Endemic Guindo Santo and Quillay Honey Using Machine-Learning Tools

“…According to Trademap data, the average world exportation of honey in 2021 was around 765,000 tons, with a global export value of USD 2650 million [ 5 ]. Honey is mostly composed of various sugars (75–85%), including fructose (33–42%) and glucose (27–45%), as well as other compounds obtained from nectar collecting, such as organic acids, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, and solid particles [ 6 , 7 ]. Different bee colonies can have very different diets, and the honey that they produce is determined by the nectar of the flowers, its concentration, and the amount they consume.…”