Physicochemical characteristics of Malaysian stingless bee honey from Trigona Species

• Main Author: Mohd Hilmi, Abu Bakar
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Q Science (General); R Medicine (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/1032/1/FH03-FSK-17-08036.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/1032/

The physicochemical properties of stingless bee honey is crucial parameter and is varies according to the geographical and botanical origin, fruit or flower season. The diverse factors resulting the diverse honey colour, pH, ash content or water content although the bee species is similar. To date, the physicochemical properties of honey from Malaysian Trigona species are unknown. Therefore, the determination of physicochemical properties of honey from stingless bee is crucial for Malaysian researchers especially to confirm the purity of honey. Five honey samples were used for the current study. Four samples were stingless bee honey from two of the most common domesticated Malaysian stingless bee species; Trigona thorasica and Trigona itama. Meanwhile, one sample was from Tualang honey. For stingless bee honey, the values for pH, moisture content, electrical conductivity, ash content and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were 2.79 ± 0.04 to 2.95 ± 0.02, 23.3% to 33.7%, 0.47 mS/cm to 0.55 mS/cm and 0.80 mg/kg to 3.42 mg/kg respectively. The colour of stingless bee honey is varies according to the observation or absorbance assay. The results show the baseline characteristics of physicochemical properties derived from Malaysian Trigona thorasica and Trigona itama bee species at particular season.