Rheological and some physicochemical characteristics of selected floral honeys from plants of caatinga

The aim of this paper was to investigate the physicochemical characteristics and rheological behavior of some floral honeys from species of wild plants found in the Caatinga biome, as well as, correlate honey viscosities with its chemical composition. Thus, five honeys with floral predominance of typical plants foraged by honeybees in Caatinga were analyzed. Results showed that moisture content of honeys ranged from 17.45 to 21.50 g/100g. The samples exhibited higher fructose content (37.58 - 43.95 g/100g) and lower glucose content (27.41- 33.80 g/100g). The glucose-water ratio ranged from 1.55 to 1.80. Sucrose contents, excluding Croton campestris honey sample, exhibited values above the highest sucrose content (6.0 g/100g) allowed by Brazilian norm. The ash content ranged from 0.02 to 0.19 %. The insoluble solids content were above 0.1 g/100 g. The electrical conductivity ranged between 144.90 and 412.55 µS.cm–1. All the honey samples behaved as Newtonian fluids. The viscosity values, measured at 293 K, varied from 1.90 to 8.55 Pa.s. An empirical mathematical model adapted from the Arrhenius model provides a good description of honey viscosity as a function of combined effects of temperature and moisture content.

本研究旨在探究卡廷加（Caatinga）生物群系野生植物花源蜂蜜的理化特性与流变行为，并分析蜂蜜黏度与其化学组成之间的相关性。据此，本研究选取5种以卡廷加地区蜜蜂采集的典型野生植物为主要蜜源的蜂蜜样品开展分析。结果显示，受试蜂蜜的水分含量介于17.45~21.50 g/100g之间；样品的果糖含量为37.58~43.95 g/100g，葡萄糖含量为27.41~33.80 g/100g，果糖含量高于葡萄糖含量。葡萄糖与水分的比值介于1.55~1.80之间。除草原巴豆（Croton campestris）蜂蜜样品外，其余样品的蔗糖含量均高于巴西标准规定的最高允许值6.0 g/100g。灰分含量介于0.02%~0.19%之间；不溶性固形物含量均高于0.1 g/100g。电导率介于144.90~412.55 µS·cm⁻¹之间。所有受试蜂蜜样品均表现为牛顿流体（Newtonian fluids）。在293 K下测得的黏度值介于1.90~8.55 Pa·s之间。基于阿伦尼乌斯模型（Arrhenius model）改进得到的经验数学模型，可较好地描述蜂蜜黏度随温度与水分含量共同作用的变化规律。