Influence of botanical origin and geographical zones on physicochemical properties, mineral contents and consumer acceptance of honey in Tanzania

Abstract

Honey offers nutritional and therapeutic benefits to people, hence understanding its quality and consumer preferences is essential for its consumption. In this study, the physicochemical properties, mineral content, and consumer preferences of honey samples from various Tanzanian geographical zones and botanical origins were investigated. Thirty-two honey samples from acacia species and miombo woodland origins were purchased from beekeepers in five zones of Tanzania, and analyzed for those parameters using standard methods. The lake zone acacia samples had significantly (p<0.05) higher moisture while the northern zone miombo samples had higher acidity than other samples. The lake zone miombo sample had a higher viscosity than other samples. Potassium was the most abundant mineral (380.2±89.30 - 3488.1±87.17 mg/kg) in honey and all minerals differed significantly(p<0.05) between botanical origins and geographical zones with miombo samples in all zones having higher values than their acacia counterparts. Furthermore, the eastern zone miombo and lake zone acacia honey were the most acceptable samples by consumers. Therefore, the Tanzanian honey quality and consumer preferences vary significantly with botanical and geographical origins. Nevertheless, despite the variations, quality values were within the national and internal standard bounds, hence the consumption of these honey is encouraged based on their known benefits.