Antioxidant Activity, Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Stingless Bee Honey from Australia

• Published in: Foods Vol. 13; no. 11; p. 1657
• Main Authors: Mello Dos Santos, Mariana, Khan, Nazim, Lim, Lee Yong, Locher, Cornelia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25-05-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; antioxidant activity; Antioxidants; Australia; Automation; Bees; Brix value; Chemical properties; Chromatography; Dextrose; Disaccharides; Electric properties; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Enzymes; Fructose; Glucose; Honey; Mechanical properties; Moisture content; Phenolic compounds; Phenols; physicochemical properties; Phytochemicals; Reagents; sensory analysis; Sensory evaluation; Sensory properties; Sourness; stingless bee honey; Sucrose; sugar content; Water content; Brazil; Australia; Germany; New Zealand; Southeast Asia; United States > US; Switzerland; Latin America; stingless bee honey; physicochemical properties; trehalulose; sugar content; high-performance thin-layer chromatography; Australia; antioxidant activity; sensory analysis
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods13111657

This study reports on the physicochemical and sensory attributes, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity of 36 honey samples produced by two different stingless bee species (
and
) from Australia. The findings reveal moisture content across all samples ranges from 24.9% to 30.8% (
/
), electrical conductivity from 1.02 to 2.15 mS/cm, pH levels between 3.57 and 6.54, soluble solids from 69.2 to 75.1 °Brix, trehalulose concentrations from 6.20 to 38.2 g/100 g, fructose levels from 7.79 to 33.4 g/100 g, and glucose content from 3.36 to 26.8 g/100 g. Sucrose was undetectable in all investigated samples. In a sensory analysis involving 30 participants, Australian stingless bee honey was perceived as having a more pronounced sourness compared with New Zealand Manuka honey. The study reveals considerable variability in the composition of Australian stingless bee honey, influenced by factors such as floral availability, geographical origin, and time of harvest. It also demonstrates the presence of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in stingless bee honey, underlining their potential as a natural source of antioxidants. All investigated samples contain trehalulose, which supports the findings of other recent studies that propose this unusual disaccharide as a marker compound of stingless bee honey.