Abstract
The quality of honey produced by stingless bees can be affected by a variety of factors. Different seasons may have an influence on stingless bee behaviour while different flower sources may affect the properties of stingless bee honey. Thus, this study aimed to determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of stingless bee honey from different multifloral sources collected during dry and rainy seasons. Honey was collected from hives placed in two different areas with multifloral (area A and B). The difference between these areas was area A only planted with two types of flowers (with stevia) and area B with more than two flowers. Pollen in the honey samples was identified to confirm the seasonal variations. The antioxidative potential of the honey samples was determined using total phenolic content (TPC), DPPH and FRAP assays and total carotenoid content (TCC). Antimicrobial properties were analysed using well diffusion method (mm) against the foodborne pathogens Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The results revealed that honey harvested during the dry season showed higher antioxidant properties compared to those harvested in the rainy season. The highest antioxidant activities were measured in honey samples taken from area B. Nevertheless, honey harvested in both seasons showed antimicrobial properties against all tested food pathogens, with the dry season samples showing the highest inhibition. Surprisingly, only honey from area A present showed no antimicrobial effect against E. coli. This study showed that the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of multifloral stingless bee honey are strongly affected by seasonal differences and the distribution of the flowering plant
Highlights
Throughout history, honey has always been described as a natural product with great importance for human health
The distribution of pollens foraged by stingless bees varies according to the available flower source and preference by the stingless bee itself
Stingless bees are attracted to A. leptopus which have smaller and more attractive pollen and petal colour compared to the white flowers produced by S. rebaudiana
Summary
Throughout history, honey has always been described as a natural product with great importance for human health. It has good culinary qualities and contains remarkable nutritional and therapeutic properties (Siddiqui et al, 2016; Marfo et al, 2016; Biluca et al, 2020; Keng et al, 2017). The chemical and nutritional properties of stingless bee honey differ significantly from honey produced by Apis mellifera (Duarte et al, 2012; Menezes et al, 2013). Designing the source of pollen has become a new method in stingless beekeeping to produce stingless bee honey with different properties. The effects of pollen from stevia plants on the properties of honey are still unclear and need to be explored. A study by Razak et al (2019) has found the stevioside in stingless bee honey collected from plant area with stevia
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