Abstract
Thirty-five natural honey samples from three apicultural regions of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were collected from honeybee hives under various climatic conditions over a two-year period. The beehives were located in the districts of Bom Jesus do Amparo, Barão de Cocais and São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, all within a 100 km radius of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The pollinic spectrum, color and ash, moisture, K, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn contents were determined. Elemental analysis were done by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Accuracy and precision were verified by recovery tests and relative standard deviation, respectively. The mean mineral contents encountered were K = 1130; Mn = 3.88; Fe = 2.79; Zn = 2.34 and Cu = 0.54 µ g/g. During the dry season, several species of Eucalyptus pollen grains predominated, with Vernonia pollen grains present in lower abundance. In the rainy season, there was an inversion of dominance. Statistical treatment of results, separated according to comb and season, showed statistically equivalent means, although some good correlation indices (p = 0.05) were obtained, e.g. between percent Eucalyptus pollen grains and Mn content (0.450), between Fe and Zn (0.698) and between K and Mn (0.738).
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