Abstract
The aim of this study is to characterize honeybees from semi-arid regions of North-east Algeria. Therefore, twenty artisanal honey samples (13 multifloral and 7 unifloral) were collected and then characterized on the basis of their physico-chemical parameters (free acidity, pH, moisture content, electrical conductivity, Ash and sugar content) and the mineral composition (Ca, K, Mg and Na). Results showed that these regions are characterized by low moisture and low percentage of major elements. However, potassium was the most abundant of all elements determined. A statistical analysis was carried out to identify the most significant parameters and the chemometric methods used such as principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) in order to classify the three types of honeys. The PCA indicated that the cumulative variance was 81.74% with the first four principal components variables. Therefore, the use of chemometric methods on the physico-chemical parameters and major elements is not a useful tool to characterize different types of honey originates regions with the same climate.
Highlights
Honey is generally defined as ‘‘The natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of blossoms or from secretion of living parts of plants” (Ajlouni and Sujirapinyokul, 2010)
The pH values of the semi-arid Algerian honey were within the pH range of 3.40 to 6.23 reported by Makhloufi et al (2010) for Algerian honey and 3.33 to 4.6 for northeast Algerian honey reported by Amri, and Ladjama (2013)
The free acidity of Algerian semi-arid honey samples was lower than the results reported by Belay et al (2013)
Summary
Honey is generally defined as ‘‘The natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of blossoms or from secretion of living parts of plants” (Ajlouni and Sujirapinyokul, 2010) It is a highly saturated water solution composed of a mixture of carbohydrates, such as fructose (25 – 45 g/100g), glucose (25 – 37 g/100g), maltose (2 –12 g/100g), sucrose (0.5 – 3 g/100g) with traces of many other sugars depending on the floral source and water (15 – 18 g/100g), in addition to acids, proteins and minerals (Freitas et al, 2006).An extensive range of physicochemical parameters are used, such as color, sugar content, pH, moisture content and mineral analysis, to determine the quality and the type of honey being produced (Conti, 2000). Dark honey types always contain higher levels of minerals (Vanhanen et al, 2011) and depend largely on the elemental composition of flowers, with regard to their botanical and geographical origin (Pisani et al, 2008; Rashed and Soltan, 2004). The mineral and trace element concentration in honey samples could give an indication of environmental pollution and its geographical origin (Anklam, 1998)
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