Screening for quality indicators and phenolic compounds of biotechnological interest in honey samples from six species of stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract Honey from stingless bees of the genus Melipona is a well sought product. Nevertheless lack of legal frameworks for quality assessment complicates the evaluation of food safety and marketing of these products. Seeking to assess the quality of honey from the bees of this genus, physical and chemical analyses, identification of phenolic compounds, and microbiological evaluation from six species of stingless bees was performed. The honey samples showed high reducing sugars, low protein levels and a balanced microbiota. High total phenols and flavonoids and higher antioxidant activity were also recorded. Different phenolic compounds of great biotechnological potential were identified and of these apigenin, kaempferol and luteolin were identified for the first time in honey. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the few works describing a detail characterization of melipona honey together with identification of the phenolic compounds of significant therapeutic value.

摘要：无刺蜂属（Melipona）蜜蜂所产的蜂蜜是一款广受追捧的产品。然而，缺乏用于质量评估的法律框架，使得这类产品的食品安全评估与市场营销工作变得复杂。为评估该属蜜蜂所产蜂蜜的品质，本研究针对6种无刺蜂的蜂蜜样本开展了理化分析、酚类化合物鉴定以及微生物学检测。所检测的蜂蜜样本展现出高还原糖含量、低蛋白水平以及均衡的微生物群落结构；同时还检测到较高的总酚与总黄酮含量，以及更强的抗氧化活性。本研究鉴定出多种具备极高生物技术应用潜力的酚类化合物，其中芹菜素（apigenin）、山奈酚（kaempferol）以及木犀草素（luteolin）为首次在蜂蜜中被发现。据我们所知，本研究是少数详细阐述无刺蜂属蜂蜜特征，并鉴定出具有显著治疗价值的酚类化合物的研究之一。