Suchergebnisse

Traditionally, melissopalynological and physicochemical analyses have been the most used to determine the botanical origin of honey. However, when performed individually, these analyses may provide less unambiguous results, making it difficult to discriminate between mono and multifloral honeys. In this context, with the aim of better characterizing this beehive product, a selection of 112 Lavandula spp. monofloral honey samples from several regions were evaluated by association of multivariate statistical techniques with physicochemical, melissopalynological and phenolic compounds analysis. All honey samples fulfilled the quality standards recommended by international legislation, except regarding sucrose content and diastase activity. The content of sucrose and the percentage of Lavandula spp. pollen have a strong positive association. In fact, it was found that higher amounts of sucrose in honey are related with highest percentage of pollen of Lavandula spp. The samples were very similar for most of the physicochemical parameters, except for proline, flavonoids and phenols (bioactive factors). Concerning the pollen spectrum, the variation of Lavandula spp. pollen percentage in honey had little contribution to the formation of samples groups. The formation of two groups regarding the physicochemical parameters suggests that the presence of other pollen types in small percentages influences the factor termed as "bioactive", which has been linked to diverse beneficial health effects. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Pollen loads gathered by honeybees and pot-pollen stored by stingless bees are functional foods with commercial potential. The botanical origin influences the physicochemical composition of the corbicular pollen, Apis mellifera's bee bread, and the stingless bees' pot-pollen processed in their nests. Thus, it is vital to determine the factors affecting the botanical composition of these apicultural products. As no prior research on the subject has been conducted, this study examines seasonality and bee species' impact on the phytogeographic source of honeybee pollen loads and stingless bees' pot-pollen through the use of palynological analysis, Network Analysis, and Generalized Linear Models (GLM). Due to seasonal variations and abiotic factors, Melipona quadrifasciata quadrifasciata, Melipona marginata, and Scaptotrigona bipunctata stingless bees produced monofloral pot-pollen from plant species within the Myrtaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Fabaceae families. In contrast, A. mellifera and Tetragona clavipes bees exhibited a more generalist pollen foraging behavior, resulting in heterofloral pollen loads or pot-pollen in most seasons studied. The GLM results indicate that factors including 'bee species' and 'season' impacted the volume and varieties of pollen gathered by honeybees and stingless bees. It is vital to acknowledge the production area's characteristics, such as climatic conditions, bee-friendly plants, flower types and quantity, and the behavioral patterns of the bee species regarding pollen foraging. These results highlight the significance of establishing best practices for producing monofloral and heterofloral pollen loads, or pot-pollen. This information may be utilized for commercial applications of A. mellifera pollen loads and stingless bee pot-pollen.