Abstract
Honey is used for nutritional, medicinal and industrial purposes and it is an important commodity in the international market. Honey production has the potential to become a major foreign exchange earner for Nigeria if qualities of the products are able to meet international standards. Commercial beekeeping practice has been known to exist in the north east sub-region of Nigeria for a long time but scientific information about the qualities of the products is scare. Therefore, some physicochemical parameters (including pH, electrical conductivity, acidities, and hydroxymethylfurfural and diastase activities) of eighteen honey samples obtained from different locations in the six States comprising the northeast sub-region of Nigeria were investigated to evaluate their quality and compliance with international regulatory standards. The pH and Electrical Conductivity (EC) values ranged from 3.5 to 4.9 and 0.05 to 0.41 with mean values of 4.9 ± 0.41 and 0.15 ± 0.09, respectively. The free, lactone and total acidities of the samples varied from 13.0 to 33.6 meq/kg; 1.16 to 4.63 meq/kg and 14.25 to 36.67 meq/kg with average values of 23.00 ± 6.20 meq/kg; 2.28 ± 0.89 meq/kg and 25.17 ± 6.86 meq/kg, respectively. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) contents and diastase activities varied from 5.99 to 17.22 mg/kg and 8.00 to 13.00 (Schades units) with mean values of 11.73 ± 3.97 mq/kg and 9.37 ± 1.38 (Schades units), respectively. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in free acidities and HMF contents of samples from the different States in the sub-region. The results are comparable with reports from many parts of the world and are also within the limits of international standards. However, most of the samples showed bacterial and mould growth, suggesting poor sanitary procedure during harvest or storage.
Highlights
Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of blossoms or from the secretion of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which honeybees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature [1,2]
The precise chemical composition and physical properties of natural honeys differ according to the plant species on which the bees forage [7,8,9,10,11] and according to climatic conditions and vegetations which are important factors that can affect the various properties of honey
In Taraba State the honey samples were collected from Bali, Takum and Yerro and in Yobe State samples were collected from the villages of Degubi, Dumbulwa and Gaji
Summary
Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of blossoms or from the secretion of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which honeybees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature [1,2] It is a sticky and viscous solution with a content of 80–85% carbohydrate (mainly glucose and fructose), 15–17% water, 0.1–0.4% protein, 0.2% ash and minor quantities of amino acids, enzymes and vitamins as well as other substances like phenolic antioxidants [3,4,5,6,7]. The production and marketing of bee products, especially honey is a well known business in the subregion [13] but information about the qualities of the products is scare
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