Colombian stingless bee honeys characterized by multivariate analysis of physicochemical properties

Abstract

In this study, which took place from August 2014 to August 2015, we looked at the physicochemical properties of honey produced by seven species of stingless bees and the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Every 2 months, we took honey samples from the Apis mellifera, Melipona fuscipes, Melipona favosa favosa, and Melipona compressipes, and every 3 months, samples were taken of Trigona (Frieseomelitta) nigra, Scaptotrigona sp., Nannotrigona sp., and Trigona (Tetragonisca) angustula. The results showed that the physicochemical properties depend on bee species (p < 0.05) and not on the time of year (p > 0.05). In addition, the samples were 97.2% correctly classified using multivariate analysis. We found that the water content, refractive index, total sugars, total acidity, diastase, pH, and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) have a discriminant power of p < 0.05.