Kinds Of Honey Research Articles

The performance of Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Parasitoids Feeding on Honey Sources

The effectiveness of parasitoids as organism for biological control is at times limited by food sources. Most of parasitoids rely on carbohydrate foods to enhance their longevity and reproductive capacity. Honey is the miraculous product of honey bees and is naturally delicious. A preliminary study was conducted on the use of different kinds of honey as food sources for the Trichogramma species. The value of honey as a food source for Trichogramma was evaluated by testing the influence of several honey diets on parasitism and longevity in the laboratory. The most commonly available honey is made from a variety of flowers, pine, citrus, chestnut, sunflower, and cotton. Trichogramma females fed on chestnut and sunflower honey parasitized relatively more than when fed on citrus honey. Trichogramma females fed on flower, sunflower, and citrus honey survived drastically longer than females fed on chestnut and pine honey. These results showed that supplying sugar, sunflower, and flower honey to Trichogramma resulted in greater longevity and total fecundity. Overall, feeding Trichogramma females on different kinds of honey had a negligible effect on parasitization but did certainly affect longevity. Of the Trichogramma species evaluated, T. brassicae appears to be the most suitable parasitoids regarding high parasitization and longer life span.

Honey botanical origin and honey-specific protein pattern: Characterization of some European honeys

Honey adulteration generates low quality products on the market. The study aimed to find a simple, specific and less time-consuming method than standard melissopalynology only, for monitoring honey botanical and geographical origin. In this study 42 honey samples from different sources were examined for their botanical origin by using melissopalynology and their specific protein patterns by electrophoresis on SDS polyacrylamide gels (SDS-PAGE). The melissopalynological analysis consisted of counting all melliferous pollen, non-melliferous pollen and honeydew elements to identify the species of pollen present in each sample. The honey samples had predominant pollen from Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, Brassicaceae, Compositae H, Fabaceae (Trifolium sp.) and Fagaceae family. From the Fagaceae family, the most important species was Castanea sativa Mill., while the Boraginaceae was represented by Echium sp. and Myosotis sp. SDS-PAGE showed that the different origin honeys shared protein bands between 45 and 85 kDa (animal origin proteins, i.e. major royal jelly proteins, enzymes) and that specific proteins (presumably plant origin proteins) can be attributed to individual honey types. This study shows that the combination of melissopalynology and SDS-PAGE is a useful tool for modern discrimination between different kinds of honey, even without performing specific protein identification.

Screening of the Honey Aroma as a Potential Essence for the Aromachology

The aim of the study was to determine the aroma profiles of four kinds of Slovak honey (sunflower, honeydew, acacia, and linden) by a qualitative and quantitative screening of their volatile compounds and by gas chromatography for the potential use in the aromachology and the business sphere. The results showed that several unique volatiles were identified in one kind of honey, while they were not identified in the remaining ones. The acacia honey had the unique volatile linalool oxide (1.13–3.9%); linden honey had the unique volatiles nerol oxide (0.6–1.6%), ethyl esters (0.41–8.78%), lilac aldehyde D (6.6%), and acetophenone (0.37%). The honeydew honey had the unique volatiles santene (0.28%) and cyclofenchene (0.59–1.39%), whereas 2-bornene (0.43–0.81%) was typical for sunflower honey. While linden honey was characterized by fruity ethyl esters, honeydew honey had more monoterpenoid compounds. In the principal component analysis model, the four kinds of honey could not be differentiated by aroma volatiles. However, it was possible to classify the linden and sunflower honey using the LDA. In conclusion, the current study provided experimental evidence that the marker compounds from different kinds of honey might be promising candidates for production of inhaling aromas.

Improved KS-GMM algorithm applied in classification and recognition of honey based on laser-induced fluorescence spectra.

The laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique, which has been widely used for food testing, can be combined with various algorithms to classify and recognize different kinds of honey. This paper proposes the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test-Gaussian mixture model (KS-GMM) algorithm, which is coupled with the LIF technique to realize accurate classification and recognition of different types of pure honey. The experiments are designed and carried out to obtain a set of LIF spectrum data from various honey and syrup samples. The proposed KS-GMM algorithm is applied for classification and recognition, with GMM, k-nearest neighbor (kNN), and decision tree algorithms as cross-validation methods. By comparing recognition results of training sets containing different amounts of data, it is found that the KS-GMM algorithm exhibits a maximum recognition accuracy of 96.52%. The research results prove that the KS-GMM algorithm outperforms, to the best of our knowledge, the other three algorithms in classifying and recognizing the honey types.

Chemical Extraction and Gastrointestinal Digestion of Honey: Influence on Its Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Anti-Inflammatory Activities.

The effect of chemical extraction and in vitro digestion of different kinds of honey on bioactive compounds (total phenolic compounds and flavonoids) and biological activities (antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory) was investigated. The antioxidant activity was evaluated against three radicals (ABTS•+, ROO•, •OH), and the antimicrobial activity was studied against five bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus mutans and Pseudomona aeruginosa) and one yeast (Candida albicans). The results show that in comparison with raw honeys, the methanolic extracts exhibited lower values for phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant activity and higher anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities against L. monocytogenes. The higher anti-inflammatory activity indicates a possible use of dried honey extracts in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The digested honeys showed higher total phenolics and higher antioxidant activity than the pre-digested honeys, as well as higher antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and L. monocytogenes, which underlines the possible antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of honey in the human body after the digestion process.

The antimicrobial activity of polyfloral honey and its awareness among urban consumers in Slovakia

The current interdisciplinary research studies the antimicrobial activity of selected polyfloral kinds of honey (n = 30) against three microorganisms (gram-positive bacteria Enterococcus faecalis, gram-negative bacteria Salmonella enterica, and one yeast Candida krusei) as well as investigates consumer behavior and awareness towards honey healing properties. Consumer research involved 617 honey consumers living in urban areas. T-test for Equality of means, non-parametric tests, and descriptive statistics were applied. Results showed that antimicrobial activity was found in all honey samples with a concentration of 50%. Nevertheless, better activity was obtained in honey samples from urban beekeepers compared to samples from retail stores. Results of consumer research showed that honey is mostly used as food (sweetener in beverages, ingredient in the recipe, or direct consumption) and as medicine mainly during the winter period. The consumer awareness towards honey healing effects was very high (97%), however, 1/3 of respondents were not able to list any specific examples, and only 11 % mentioned antibacterial activity. Furthermore, more than 70% of respondents did not know to explain the term “medical honey” and more than 50% of respondents are not aware of the maximum temperature used for heating honey without decreasing its biologically active compounds.

Rapid authentication of mono-floral honeys by capillary zone electrophoresis

Protein is the most important characteristic component of honey. The types and content of proteins in different kinds of honey are imparity, but those in the same kind of honey are very similar. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method, used to detect proteins, was developed for authenticating of four mono-floral honeys (n = 45), including medlar honey, chaste honey, jujube honey and locust honey. Electrophoresis conditions including capillary inner diameter (50–70 μm), pH (2.5–9), the concentration of anionic surfactant (0.3–0.5 mmol L−1), injection time (3–7 s) and separation voltage (3–7 KV) were optimized. The results showed that the honey sample was highly stable and the detection limit was 10%, the relative standard deviation of retention time and peak area were lower than 1.40% and 1.76%, respectively. The CZE fingerprints were established on the basis of different protein characteristics in different mono-floral honeys combined with chemometric analysis. All 45 honeys could be correctly identified according to their floral origins. This method does not need to confirm the type of protein, and has the advantages of simple and fast verification of the authenticity of honey.

SPME-GC-MS and FTIR-ATR Spectroscopic Study as a Tool for Unifloral Common Greek Honeys’ Botanical Origin Identification

Among the variants of Greek honey, the most commonly available are pine, fir, thyme, and citrus honey. Samples of the above kinds of honey, identified according to European and Greek legislation, were studied using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic techniques. Two chemometric models were developed based on statistically significant volatile compounds (octane; 2-phenylacetaldehyde; 1-nonanol; methyl 2-hydroxybenzoate; 2-(4-methylcyclohex-3-en-1-yl); nonanoic acid) and the 1390–945 and 847–803 cm−1 spectral regions, mainly vibrations of fructose and glucose, combined with the stepwise linear discriminant analysis (stepwise LDA) statistical technique. In total, 85.5% of standard samples, and 82.3% through internal validation and 88.5% through external validation, were identified correctly using the GC-MS-stepwise-LDA chemometric model. The corresponding results for the ATR-FTIR-stepwise-LDA chemometric model were 93.5%, 82.5%, and 84.6%. The double validation (internal, external) enhances the robustness of the proposed chemometric models. The developed models are considered statistically equivalent, but FTIR spectroscopy is simple, rapid, and more economical.

Chemical composition of Moringa oleifera and Honey from three different Areas in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

ObjectiveThe study aimed to assess the composition of MO and honey from different areas in South Sulawesi. MethodsThis was a laboratory examination study. Several macro and micronutrients were measured including water, crude protein, crude lipid, Ca, Mg, Na, P, and K. Also, polyphenol and flavonoid were measured. ResultThe results showed that variation of water, protein, and lipid in MO were 9.2–9.4%, 24.2–29.8%, and 8.43–9.6% respectively. Meanwhile, the variation of Ca, Mg, Na, P, K in MO were 1.63–2.2%, 0.36–0.53%, 0.18–0.43%, 012–0.22% and 0.67–0.76%, respectively. The variation of polyphenol and flavonoid of MO were 0.24–0.34% and 192–209ppm, respectively. On the other hand, the variation of water, protein, and lipid in different types of honey were 21.1–25.4%, 1.1–1.6%, and 0.01–0.09% respectively. Meanwhile, the variation of Ca, Mg, Na, P, K in honey were 632–1040%, 216–378%, 361–555%, 20–57% and 1570–2848%, respectively. Polyphenol and flavonoids from three different kinds of honey were also varied at 0.06–011% and 14.4–35.8ppm, respectively. ConclusionWe conclude that chemical compositions in MO from three areas were almost similar but they were varied enough in honey which was higher in Trigona sp.

Monitoring of microscopic fungi community in selected bee products

Honey is a remarkably complex food with a valued place in the human diet. An important indicator of its quality is the presence of microorganisms. This study aimed to monitor the mycological quality of 27 samples of Slovak kinds of honey and honey products with the addition of differently processed blueberries, cranberries, and red currants. Yeast and filamentous microscopic fungi were monitored using the plate dilution method. A total of 21 samples (78%) were positive for the presence of yeasts and 14 samples (52%) were positive for the filamentous microscopic fungi occurrence. In 6 samples (22%) no presence of microscopic fungi was found at all. The highest number of yeasts (3.07 log CFU.g-1) was recorded in one flower honey sample and in other samples, yeast counts did not exceed 3 log CFU.g-1. The highest numbers of filamentous micromycetes (2.39 and 2.44 log CFU.g-1) were recorded in 2 honeydew honey samples. Overall, the following genera have been identified: Alternaria, Arthrinium, Aspergillus (including previously named as Eurotium), Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, Mucor, Penicillium, and Stemphilium. Penicillium spp. were recorded with the highest isolation frequency (41%). Aspergillus species were isolated from 19% of honey samples. In the honey with fruit addition, the yeasts in a range of 1.00 – 3.09 log CFU.g-1 and the filamentous microscopic fungi in a range of 1.00 – 1.39 log CFU.g-1 were found. The study showed that cranberries were the most appropriate addition from a mycological point of view. Dried and lyophilized forms of tested fruits were the most suitable. Except for honey with frozen currants and honey with fresh cranberries, all final products had a water activity below 0.610 and appeared to be stable.

Methods for determining the botanical origin of honey

The demand for monofloral, original, and special (functional) kinds of honey, or those with geographical indication, is forecast. At the same time, there is a need to improve the methods for determining the botanical and geographical origin of honey. The purpose of the research was to select and apply a variety of techniques for identifying the botanical origin of honey for its correspondence to acacia species. Samples of honey from the Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro regions extracted in the spring and summer period were used in the research. Organoleptic, physicochemical, NMR spectrometry, and advanced melissopalynology methods were applied. The tests were carried out at the laboratories of the Department of Certification and Standardization of Agricultural Products, NULES, Ukraine; the Ukrainian Laboratory of Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products; and the Bruker BioSpin GmbH company (Germany). According to the research results, the requirements for acacia honey were met by the organoleptic method for samples B1 and B2; by the physicochemical method for A0 and A2; by NMR spectroscopy for not a single sample, all being assessed as polyfloral; and by pollen analysis for B1 and B2. The conducted studies confirm the need for a comprehensive approach to the identification of the botanical origin of honey for its conformity to acacia species. There is a need to review the physicochemical indicators for the compliance of honey with the acacia species obtained in Ukraine. After all, even the modern NMR spectrometry technique indicated that the specially fabricated sample that did not contain acacia pollen grains was acacia honey. Identification of the botanical origin of monofloral honey, in particular acacia, should be carried out in the following sequence: pollen analysis (by dominant pollen grains), safety (presence of antibiotics, pesticides), physicochemical parameters according to international requirements, organoleptic parameters.

Analysis of Physicochemical Characteristics of Pauttika Honey Procured from Uttar Pradesh, India

Ayurveda has described eight kinds of honey with the different medicinal values that gets change with the passage of time of one year. Pauttika honey is a specific kind of honey among the eight types of honey produced by Pauttika honey bee, which is indicated in the management of diabetes (Prameha), obesity (Sthaulaya), dyslipidemia, etc. To identify and standardize the type of honey and its honey bee on scientific parameters and the characteristics as mentioned in Ayurveda. Honey was procured from the natural honey hive and Standard methods were used forphysico-chemical analysis, sensory evaluation, and color hunter test.Bee identification was done by an expert entomologist. Analysis of honey, showed that procured honey was Pauttika type of honey as described in Ayurveda and bee was identified as Apis dorsata. Researchersalso found some changes in the properties of honey after the one year like in pH, HMF, Color, and Sensory evaluation. The Physico-chemical analysis of honey samples confirmed the good quality of Pauttikahoney produced by Apis dorsata also confirms a new variety of honey as mentioned in Ayurveda.

Investigation on Wine Fermentation with Three kinds of Honey

Investigation on Wine Fermentation with Three kinds of Honey

A capillary electrophoresis method to determine aliphatic organic acids in bracatinga honeydew honey and floral honey

Aliphatic organic acids (AOA) make a strong contribution to flavor, taste, acidity, pH and electrical conductivity. In this paper, a new and fast capillary electrophoresis method was developed and validated to determine 14 AOA simultaneously in bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella Bentham) honeydew honey and floral honey. Separation of fourteen compounds occurred in 9 min using glyoxylic acid as an internal standard, and the background electrolyte was comprised of phthalic acid (20 mmol L−1,) Tris (14 mmol L−1), CTAB(1.6 mmol L−1), CaCl2 (1 mmol L−1), pH 3.3. The performance and fitness-for-purpose of this method were assessed based on the results obtained for the parameters: system suitability, linearity, matrix effects, selectivity, precision, accuracy, detection and quantification limits, and robustness. Gluconic acid was the main acid in both kinds of honey. Malonic and glycolic acids were quantified in honeydew honey and floral honey for the first time, while lactic acid was quantified for the first time in honeydew honey.

A green triple-locked strategy based on volatile-compound imaging, chemometrics, and markers to discriminate winter honey and sapium honey using headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry

A simple and environmentally approach using untargeted imaging of volatile substances combined with chemometrics and markers response was proposed for discriminating different species of honey with headspace gas-chromatography-ion-mobility (HS-GC-IMS). The 3D HS-GC-IMS imaging and their response differences enabled the clear discrimination between winter honey and sapium honey. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) were employed to discriminate different honey. Markers of two kinds of honey were identified and confirmed with a user-built imaging database combined with multivariate analysis. Benzaldehyde dimer and phenylacetaldehyde dimer were found to be reliable markers of winter honey, and phenylethyl acetate dimer was of sapium honey. Adulteration identification of the honey samples with different adulteration ratios were subjected to this triple-locked strategy analysis. The results demonstrate that HS-GC-IMS imaging coupled with chemometrics and marker identification is a useful triple-locked strategy to discriminate honey from different floral origins and adulterated honey.

Radioactivity of honey from northern Poland

This work shows significant variations in the values of 210Po in different analyzed Polish voivodeships. Statistical analysis of 210Po activity concentrations in honey samples showed significant differences between place of honey collecting, kind of honey and morphological structure of plants from which bees collected nectar.

Application of FTIR spectroscopy for analysis of the quality of honey

Every kind of honey is a very precious natural product which is made by Mellifera bees species. The chemical composition of honey depends on its origin or mode of production. Honey consists essentially of different sugars, predominantly fructose and glucose. There are also non – sugar ingredients like proteins and amino acids, as well as some kind of enzymes, such as: invertase, amylase, glucose oxidase, catalase and phosphatase. The fact that honey is one of the oldest medicine known worldwide is remarkable. Scientists all over the world have been trying to improve analytical methods as well as to implement new ones in order to reaffirm the high quality of honey the benefits of which may be distracted or disturbed. There are many methods and popular analytical techniques, including as follows: mass spectroscopy and molecular spectroscopy (especially FTIR spectroscopy). The infrared spectroscopy technique is one of the most common analytical methods which are used to analyse honey nowadays. The main aim of the task was to use ATR-FTIR infrared spectroscopy to compare selected honey samples as well as typical sequences coming out from certain functional groups in the analysed samples.

Effectiveness of three mouthwashes - Manuka honey, Raw honey, and Chlorhexidine on plaque and gingival scores of 12-15-year-old school children: A randomized controlled field trial.

Objectives:The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of three types of mouthwashes manuka honey (MH), raw honey (RH), and chlorhexidine (CHX) on plaque and gingival scores of 12–15-year-old government school children.Study Design:This study was a double-blind, randomized controlled field trial conducted in Belagavi city, India.Materials and Methods:One hundred and thirty-five government school children aged 12–15 years were randomly selected and allocated into three groups, RH, MH, and CHX mouthwash groups. Ten milliliters each of honey-based mouthwash formulation and CHX mouthwashes (0.2%) were administered according to the group allocation twice daily for 21 days. All the children were examined at baseline, 22nd day (after discontinuation of mouthwash) and 28th day (1 week after discontinuation of mouthwash) for Gingival (Loe and silness 1963) and Plaque Index (Silness and Loe, 1964).Results:Descriptive statistics was applied for distribution of study participants according to age and gender. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test and repeated measures ANOVA test followed by Bonferroni's post hoc were applied for inter- and intragroup comparison, respectively. Statistically significant reductions (P < 0.001) in plaque and gingival scores were observed in all the three types of mouthwash groups at the end of the 22nd day and 28th day. MH and RH mouthwash demonstrated equal effectiveness, whereas CHX mouthwash showed the maximum reduction in clinical parameters.Conclusion:Honey-based mouthwash showed a promising antimicrobial effect on dental caries and plaque and gingival scores.

Malaysian stingless bee and Tualang honeys: A comparative characterization of total antioxidant capacity and phenolic profile using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

This study aims to examine and compare the phenolic profile and antioxidant properties of two kinds of honey: Stingless bee honey (Kelulut honey) and Tualang honeys. Using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, a total of eighteen phenolic acids and flavonoids have been identified in Kelulut honey samples. The phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity (three assays: DPPH, ABTS, and ORAC) for Kelulut and Tualang honeys were evaluated and statistically estimated. There was a significant (p < 0.05) phenolic content (228.09 ± 7.9–235.28 ± 0.6 mg gallic acid equivalent per kg) and flavonoid content (97.88 ± 10.1–101.5 ± 11.4 mg catechin equivalent per kg) in Kelulut honey samples. The Kelulut honey samples have demonstrated a significantly stronger antioxidant capacity than Tualang honey samples. The correlations between antioxidant results and polyphenols content were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). This research is the first to report data on phenolic profile and total antioxidant capacity of Kelulut honey. Our data suggest that Kelulut honey has prominent medical properties and could be exploited as a natural nutraceutical to treat free radical associated diseases.

Rapid determination and quantitation of compositional carbohydrates to identify honey by capillary zone electrophoresis

ABSTRACTA simple, sensitive, and specific capillary electrophoretic method based on 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolon (PMP) derivatization has been developed for simultaneous separation and determination of 11 aldoses (maltose, xylose, arabinose, ribose, glucose, rhamnose, fucose, galactose, mannose, glucuronic acid, and galacturonic acid). The separation of PMP-labeled maltose and monosaccharides was carried out under the selected optimum conditions with pH 11.0, 200 mM borate buffer containing 4% methanol at voltage 20 kV, and capillary temperature 25°C, and the 11 PMP aldoses could be perfectly separated from each other within 41 min. Our experiment results demonstrated that the molar ratios of carbohydrates in 10 kinds of honey were greatly different, and the carbohydrates’ constitutions varied greatly between commodity honey and natural honey. This proposed zone electrophoresis method provides an accurate and economic alternative for monosaccharide and maltose analysis to identify honeys, and can also be applied to routine detection of reducing carbohydrates in real-life samples.