A review on stingless bee (kelulut) honey composition and its contribution to quality of honey products

The kelulut farming industry in Malaysia has experienced exponential growth, driven by the increasing demand for kelulut honey, which can be attributed to the widespread dissemination of information about its benefits. Previously, many researchers worked out on factors responsible on improving the quality of honey. However, the data of honey as a food ingredient and its functions is lacking and should be retrieved in order to have a clear picture on the importance of the specific composition of honey-based products. The composition of kelulut honey such as sugar contents, acidity, antioxidants, water content, minerals and Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) play an important role in determining the quality of kelulut honey. The illustrious Malaysian Standard MS2683: 2017 was firmly established with the noble objective of safeguarding the pristine purity and unparalleled excellence of both raw and processed kelulut honey, assuring their unwavering compliance with the exalted guidelines and unrivalled standards set forth. Generally, the utilization of kelulut honey as a preservative in food products are not fully discovered yet. In addition, the presence of good bacteria such as Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) contributes to a special attribute in kelulut honey. However, kelulut honey is also highly susceptible towards harmful bacteria such as Bacillus cereus , Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus and Shigella as reported in previous work. This may occur due to inappropriate handling of the kelulut honey during harvesting. Furthermore, kelulut honey as food ingredient which contains antibacterial value is very useful and can be used in food preservation due to its function in prolonging the shelf life. Therefore, the shelf life of honey and honey-based products are related with the composition, handling practice and the method of storage implementation throughout the food supply chain.