Abstract
Stingless bee honey, specifically honeydew honey, is generally valued for its better health benefits than those of most blossom types. However, scientific studies about the differentiation of stingless bee honey based on honeydew and blossom origins are very limited. In this study, 13C NMR spectroscopy was employed to quantify the seven major sugar tautomers in stingless bee honey samples, and the major sugar compositions of both honeydew and blossom types were found not significantly different. However, several physicochemical properties of honeydew honey including moisture content, free acidity, electrical conductivity, ash content, acetic acid, diastase, hydrogen peroxide, and mineral elements levels were significantly higher; while total soluble solid, proline, and hydroxymethylfurfural were significantly lower than blossom honey. Greater antioxidant capacity in honeydew honey was proven with higher total phenolic compounds, ABTS, DPPH, superoxide radical scavenging activities, peroxyl radical inhibition, iron chelation, and ferric reducing power. Using principal component analysis (PCA), two clusters of stingless bee honey from the honeydew and blossom origin were observed. PCA also revealed that the differentiation between honeydew and blossom origin of stingless bee honey is possible with certain physicochemical and antioxidant parameters. The combination of NMR spectroscopy and chemometrics are suggested to be useful to determine the authenticity and botanical origin of stingless bee honey.
Highlights
Stingless bee is the largest group of eusocial bees on Earth with more than 500 described species
Honeydew honey was found to possess very minimal sucrose to be integrated by 13 C NMR spectroscopy and sucrose content obtained from blossom honey in this study (0.40%) met the established requirement, which is not more than 9.5%
This study demonstrated the potential of 13 C NMR spectroscopy to identify and quantify the major sugar molecules in stingless bee honey samples
Summary
Stingless bee is the largest group of eusocial bees on Earth with more than 500 described species. It is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions including tropical. Less attention and study have been focused on these bees and related products presumably because they are not found in North America and European regions [2]. Bees harvest honeydew honey from plant secretions. Honeydew honey is highly valued because it is considered to possess more health benefits than floral or blossom honey [4]. Several studies demonstrated that the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of honeydew honey are superior to those of blossom honey [5]
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