Diagnóstico da qualidade físico – química e microbiólogica de mel de abelha (apis mellifera) produzidos no Sertão paraibano.

Abstract

Honey is a substance used by man as food, is a natural product made by bees from the nectar of flowers, has nutritional and therapeutic properties. Bee honey is a highly appreciated food product with a high commercial value. It is a very complex biological product whose quality and physico-chemical composition varies notably depending on the flora visited, the climatic and soil conditions of the region where it is produced But the control of their quality is not a very common practice among informal and commercial producers. In this way, studies that characterize bee honeys marketed from the most different production locations are important for the formation of a database that makes it possible to establish physicochemical and microbiological standards that serve as references for inferring quality standards to such products and Thereby helping to improve quality and protect the consumer against contaminated, sweetened and unfit for consumption. In this sense, the present study aimed to analyze the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of honey bee Apis honeys produced by different associations and informal beekeepers in the Sertão da Paraíba, verifying the quality of the commercialized product, comparing the results with the standards established and required by the Legislation in force for the commercialization of honey. Twenty samples from different producers and brands were analyzed and the tests were conducted with a minimum number of three replicates. According to the results obtained, it can be verified that among the honeys analyzed, those acquired from informal producers were those that presented the highest number of parameters in disagreement with the quality norms in force in the country and that despite the low confidence that the samples of Honey sold informally pass to the consumer, no product with signs of fraud was detected in the samples analyzed, however, it is suggested as a way to ensure the honey quality produced and marketed the adoption of Good Beekeeping Practices (BPA) for bee honey producers , Thus ensuring good product quality and consumer safety.