Properties of Honey from Ten species of Peruvian Stingless Bees

Abstract

Honey produced by ten stingless bee species (Melipona crinita, M. eburnea, M. grandis, M. illota, Nannotrigona melanocera, Partamona epiphytophila, Ptilotrigona lurida, Scaptotrigona polystica, Scaura latitarsis, and Tetragonisca angustula) from Peru has been characterized according to traditional physicochemical standards (color and moisture), biochemical components (flavonoids, polyphenols, nitrites, proteins), and bioactive properties (antibacterial activity, antioxidant capacity). Analytical data are also provided for a sample of Apis mellifera and an artificial honey control. For stingless bees, honey color varied between 26 and 150 mm Pfund. M. illota produced the lightest honey, while N. melanocera and T. angustula were the darkest. Moisture varied between 20.8 and 45.8 g water/100 g, confirming higher moisture for stingless bee honey than the A. mellifera honey standard of 20 g water/100 g. Flavonoids varied from 2.6 to 31.0 mg quercetin equivalents/100g, nitrites from 0.30 to 2.88 μmoles nitrites/100 g, polyphenols from 99.7 to 464.9 mg gallic acid equivalents/100g, proteins from 0.75 to 2.86 g/100 g, and the antioxidant capacity from 93.8 to 569.6 μmoles Trolox equivalents/100 g. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was slightly lower against Staphylococcus aureus (12.5-50 g/100 mL) than Escherichia coli (50 g/100 mL).

Properties of honey from Tetragonisca angustula fiebrigi and Plebeia wittmanni of Argentina

“…The composition of stingless bee honeys has been studied far less than that of Apis mellifera honey, and consequently, standards for quality control of Meliponini honeys are not yet established in the countries where they are produced (Gonnet et al, 1964;Cortopassi-Laurino and Gelli, 1991;Vit et al, 1994Vit and Pulcini, 1996;Souza et al, 2006). In this respect, the present study is the first contribution reporting the composition of P. wittmanni honeys, and extends the information given in previous reports on T. angustula fiebrigi honey (Souza et al, 2006;de Almeida et al, 2009;Rodriguez-Malaver et al, 2009;Vit et al, 2009) of northwestern Argentin. Furthermore, the results on antibacterial effects may explain their frequent and ample usage in Traditional Medicine.…”

“…The antibacterial effect of T. angustula fiebrigi honey from northwestern Argentina was similar to that of T. fiebrigi honey from Paraguay and northeastern Argentina (de Almeida et al, 2009;Rodriguez-Malaver et al, 2009;Vit et al, 2009), and to T. angustula honey from different regions of Costa Rica (DeMera and Angert, 2004). In all these Gram-negative bacteria were the most resistant to honey treatment.…”

Honey: A Novel Antioxidant

“…Some Saudi Arabian honey samples were demonstrated to exhibit antioxidant activities [ 29 ]. Similar antioxidant properties were also reported for Peruvian honey [ 30 ]. Australian honey produced by the stingless bees Trigona carbonaria was reported to have high antioxidant properties [ 31 ].…”

Antioxidant Capacity of Honey

“…Total phenolic compounds and flavonoid content ranged from 0.5 to 1.7 mg/100 g and 0.1 to 0.6 mg/ 100 g, respectively (Table 47.2). Other studies based on stingless bee honey from other countries (Equador, Peru, Australia) attest to the antioxidant activity of this product (Guerrini et al, 2009;Oddo et al, 2008;Rodriguez-Malaver et al, 2009). These honey samples were, therefore, evaluated for the ability of preventing LDL copper-induced peroxidation in vitro.…”