PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND MELISSOPALYNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL BUCKWHEAT HONEYS FROM POLAND

Abstract

Buckwheat honey is widely consumed by consumers due to its numerous health-promoting properties. Characteristically it is dark, tea-like in colour, sharp, tickly, and sweet in flavour, and has smelled of buckwheat flowers. In the current study, various commercial honey samples were examined to test the quality of buckwheat honey samples available in the market. The research materials were comprised of 15 samples of honeys from 4 voivodships, among these, 5 samples were collected from the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship, 4 from the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, 4 from the Lubelskie Voivodship, and reset 2 samples from the Podkarpackie Voivodship. Melissopalynological analyses of investigated honeys’ samples revealed that all samples had at least 45% of Fagopyrym pollen content, which means that researched honeys complied with the standards of the International Commission for Bee Botany (ICBB) for buckwheat honey. Honeys’ samples had an average water content of 15.3% (σ= 1.24), and electrical conductivity at 0.37 mS*cm-1. Therefore, all beekeepers correctly marked their honey type as buckwheat honey simply using the organoleptic properties of their honeys and observing their bees collecting pollen and honeydew.