Towards authentication of entomological origin of honey in Bangladesh through molecular and biochemical approaches

Abstract

Honey is the most frequently falsified health product due to adulteration in entomological and botanical aspects, becoming a global issue. Honey is mostly produced by Apis mellifera (European honeybee), A. cerana (Asian honeybee), and A. dorsata (Giant honeybee) in Bangladesh and is prone to adulteration with admixture and fraudulent labelling of its entomological source. This research aims to develop an authentication tool using molecular and biochemical methods, for detecting honey adulteration at its entomological origin. Honeybee samples were collected from ten localities of Bangladesh based on the mustard nectarine sources and the molecular phylogeny inferred from mitochondrial DNA of the Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit-1 (COI 1) gene of 627 bp has been conducted to confirm the taxonomic identity of the bees. With more than 80% bootstrap values, the phylogenetic analysis that came from the maximum likelihood tree verified the genetic identity of A. mellifera, A. cerana, and A. dorsata in collected bee colonies. Physio-biochemical properties, namely, moisture, pH, color, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and formaldehyde contents in honey were found as the key determinants of identifying the honey with its entomological origin. The principal component analysis, heatmap dendrogram, and correlation matrixes analysis among the biochemical properties of honey resulted in discriminating clusters for revealing its entomological profile. Therefore, this methodology can be applied in the authentication of Asian, European, and Giant bee honey samples by the identification of the honeybee DNA and biochemical measurements of their derived honey.