{"title":"Evaluating maturity indicators in stingless bee honey: The role of soluble solids over pot condition in harvesting standards","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jfca.2024.106869","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In stingless bee honey (SBH) harvesting, beekeepers often collect honey without accurately assessing its maturation stage, which can impact its physicochemical diversity. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of storage pot condition on SBH maturity by examining honey from open pots (OP) and closed pots (CP). It is commonly assumed that honey in OP is immature and honey in CP is mature. Our physicochemical analyses, including moisture content, soluble solids (°Brix), sugars, and aliphatic organic acids (AOA), tested this hypothesis. The findings revealed that 40 % of SBH samples from OP were mature, challenging the initial assumption. Furthermore, AOA analysis showed that gluconic, acetic, and lactic acids are predominant in SBH, but no direct correlation between AOA concentration and honey maturity was observed. Based on these results, we conclude that OP and CP are not reliable indicators of SBH maturity. This was a preliminary study, providing results that can be further investigated through the validation of the applied methodology and with a larger number of samples. Nevertheless, this study is an important step towards standardizing SBH and assisting producers during the harvest, ultimately optimizing the collection process. To standardize SBH maturity, we recommend using °Brix values, with values above 55 suggesting mature honey with a moisture content below 40 g 100 g⁻¹. Implementing °Brix measurements can improve harvesting practices, enhance honey quality, reduce bee stress, and increase both honey production and market availability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15867,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Food Composition and Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Food Composition and Analysis","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157524009037","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, APPLIED","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In stingless bee honey (SBH) harvesting, beekeepers often collect honey without accurately assessing its maturation stage, which can impact its physicochemical diversity. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of storage pot condition on SBH maturity by examining honey from open pots (OP) and closed pots (CP). It is commonly assumed that honey in OP is immature and honey in CP is mature. Our physicochemical analyses, including moisture content, soluble solids (°Brix), sugars, and aliphatic organic acids (AOA), tested this hypothesis. The findings revealed that 40 % of SBH samples from OP were mature, challenging the initial assumption. Furthermore, AOA analysis showed that gluconic, acetic, and lactic acids are predominant in SBH, but no direct correlation between AOA concentration and honey maturity was observed. Based on these results, we conclude that OP and CP are not reliable indicators of SBH maturity. This was a preliminary study, providing results that can be further investigated through the validation of the applied methodology and with a larger number of samples. Nevertheless, this study is an important step towards standardizing SBH and assisting producers during the harvest, ultimately optimizing the collection process. To standardize SBH maturity, we recommend using °Brix values, with values above 55 suggesting mature honey with a moisture content below 40 g 100 g⁻¹. Implementing °Brix measurements can improve harvesting practices, enhance honey quality, reduce bee stress, and increase both honey production and market availability.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Food Composition and Analysis publishes manuscripts on scientific aspects of data on the chemical composition of human foods, with particular emphasis on actual data on composition of foods; analytical methods; studies on the manipulation, storage, distribution and use of food composition data; and studies on the statistics, use and distribution of such data and data systems. The Journal''s basis is nutrient composition, with increasing emphasis on bioactive non-nutrient and anti-nutrient components. Papers must provide sufficient description of the food samples, analytical methods, quality control procedures and statistical treatments of the data to permit the end users of the food composition data to evaluate the appropriateness of such data in their projects.
The Journal does not publish papers on: microbiological compounds; sensory quality; aromatics/volatiles in food and wine; essential oils; organoleptic characteristics of food; physical properties; or clinical papers and pharmacology-related papers.