Sugars and °Brix in honey from Apis mellifera, Melipona beecheii, and commercial honey from a local market in Mexico

Abstract

Fructose and glucose are the main sugars in honey, and their concentration is expected to correspond to the specifications of official standards. The study compared the composition of sugars and ºBrix in honey from Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii bees, and a product marketed as bee honey in a local market. The sugar content was determined by highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a refractive index detector, and °Brix was determined using a refractometer. None of the honey analyzed had detectable levels of sucrose. The average concentration of fructose and glucose in honey was 36.4 and 28.9 g 100 g-1 for Apis mellifera, and 38.5 and 28.2 g 100 g-1 for honey from Melipona beecheii. For honey from the local market, the respective concentrations of these sugars were 7.5 and 17.0 g 100 g-1. The fructose:glucose ratio (F:G) was higher than one in Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii honey, and 0.4 for honey from the local market. The three types of honey compared had similar values for °Brix. It is concluded that the honey under study by Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii have similar qualities within international standards. In contrast, the product marketed as bee honey in the local market did not meet official regulations specifications and could not be considered authentic.

Determination of bioactive compounds and physicochemical param-eters of honey produced in the state of Veracruz, Mexico.

“…Regarding soluble solids, honey samples collected in the state presented ranges from 760.0 to 89.60.0 °Brix. These values are similar and are in the same range as those already reported (Castillo-Martínez et al, 2022), with values between 77 and 86 °Brix for honey from Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii. On the other hand, the water content present in honey should not be greater than 23%, because it is very likely that honey will ferment, change its smell, flavor, and/or tend to crystallize.…”