Avaliação da qualidade microbiológica de mel de abelhas sem ferrão (Melipona subnitida) comercializado no sertão da Paraíba.

Abstract

Brazil has emerged as a major producer and exporter of honey worldwide and the northeast is outstanding due to its floristic diversity and tropical climate. Honey is a product that has antimicrobial activity attributed to physical and chemical factors. Even so, it is still possible to find a series of microorganisms present in this product and that serve as indicators of quality. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the microbiological quality of Melipona subnitida Ducke bees, known as jandaíra, marketed from the Paraiba Sertão, in the presence of Coliforms at 35 ° C and 45 ° C (NMP / ml), Salmonella sp. (CFU / ml) and Filamentous fungi and yeasts (CFU / ml). All honey samples presented low microbial count of coliforms at 35ºC and 45ºC, CTM, and Filamentous fungi and yeasts, however the presence of Salmonella spp. in samples 9, 12 and 17, made them unfit for human consumption. The results show that 83.4% of the analyzed samples were fit for consumption, but it is important to emphasize that it is necessary to focus on the hygiene and manipulation of the raw material, avoiding the contamination of the honey and enabling the beekeepers to follow the standards required by the Ministry Agriculture and international market.