Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the physicochemical, the microbiological, and the antioxidant characteristics of unifloral honey, polyfloral honey, honeydew, and hay meadows honey. Hay meadow is type of semi-natural grassland with a great floral diversity, an important resource for pollinators. Grasslands are the source of the spring nectar honey obtained in May and June. Water content, sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose, trehalose, melezitose, maltose, erlose, turanose, and raffinose), electrical conductivity, phenolic content (gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, 4-hydrxybenzoic acid, vanilic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, rosmarinic acid, myricetin, quercitin, luteolin, kaempferol), color, viscosity, and microbiological characteristics were performed for all samples of honey. The total polyphenols content was significant for grassland honey (21.50 mg/100 g) and honeydew (30.49 mg/100 g) and less significant for acacia (0.08 mg/100 g) and rape honey (0.14 mg/100 g). All samples were microbiologically safe, and standard plate count (SPC) values were <10 cfu/g for all the samples, but the grassland honey had the highest microbiological quality: 33.3% of samples without microorganisms, 50.0% with the presence of yeast under limit, and 16.7% with yeast and mold under limit, a situation that does not meet other types of honey. The results of statistical analysis obtained with principal component analysis (PCA) showed a major difference between the grassland honey and the other types of honey.
Highlights
According to Directive 2001/110 Electrical Conductivity (EC), honey is defined as the naturally occurring natural substance produced by Apis melifera bees [1]
The results of statistical analysis obtained with principal component analysis (PCA) showed a major difference between the grassland honey and the other types of honey
Values of 20–40 mg/100 g were presented by Kuś and co-authors for heather honey, and values of 27.4 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g were found by Bucekova and co-authors for wildflowers [14,35]
Summary
According to Directive 2001/110 EC, honey is defined as the naturally occurring natural substance produced by Apis melifera bees [1]. Honey is a sweet substance naturally produced by the transformation and the processing of the nectar of bees or dew, which is stored in the cells of the honeycombs [2]. The sources of nectar are the spontaneous flora, the culture, and the sweet excretions of aphids or sweet and viscous substances that are secreted in certain periods by leaves and stems of trees. This diversity of sources results in a wide variety of types of honey with special chemical compositions, microbiological properties, and sensory qualities. Honey has anti-inflammatory properties, Molecules 2019, 24, 2932; doi:10.3390/molecules24162932 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules
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