Untitled

Abstract

The development of beekeeping in recent years has resulted in the production of large quantity of honey which storage can affect its quality. This study aims at assessing the physico-chemical characteristics of fresh honey compared to old honey. The contents of total sugars measured were 0.75 ± 0.8 and 0.8 ± 1.36.10-16 for 2011 and 2012 respectively. Water content and ash were 17.23 ± 0.24% and 17.12 ± 0.12 % and 0.8 ± 0.06% and 0.74 ± 0.13% for the same periods. Acidity was estimated to be 4.35±0.2 meq/kg and 4.26±0.13 meq/kg and pH was 4.022±4.122 and 0.01±0.01 for 2011 and 2012 respectively. The amount of insoluble material was 58.8.10-4 ±5.79.10-5 and 99.8.10-4 ±7.09.10-6. For the electrical conductivity, the values were 705.71±5.87 and 597.94±11.74 S/cm. Although all the characteristics of honeys are within the range of recommended values, however, there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the values of ash content and insoluble between the two years. Ash content was higher in 2011 than in 2012 while insoluble matters were lower in 2011 than in 2012. These results indicated that apart from biotic factors, the one year storage period had no influence on the quality of honey.