Propriedades físico-químicas de amostras comerciais de mel com própolis do estado de São Paulo

Abstract

Honey mainly consists of sugars at high concentrations from the nectar of flowers and propolis is formed from plant secretions. The chemical composition of honey and propolis can vary according to some factors, which can be directly or indirectly related with bees and the environment. However, this product can experience adulterations and/or problems related to the quality control or addition of ingredients of lower commercial value. In the attempt to detect this problem, the aim of this work is to verify possible alterations or adulterations in eleven commercial samples of honey added with propolis from São Paulo State, using some physicochemical analysis: moisture, HMF, reducing sugars, apparent sucrose, proteins, Fiehe, Lugol and Lund reactions. The results indicated that all the samples contain real honey and there is no indication of adulteration with water, starch or commercial sugar.