Qualidade dos méis de Apis mellifera L. produzido por agricultores familiares da Baía do Iguape, Bahia, Brasil

Abstract

This work had the objective to evaluate the quality of Apis mellifera L. honey produced by family farmers in the Iguape bay, in Bahia, Brazil. A total of 42 samples were collected from apiaries located within the Iguape bay from March, 2009 to February, 2010. Samples were transported to the Nucleus of Insect Studies - INSECTA, at the Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Ambientais e Biológicas from the Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia, where physicochemical evaluations were performed (total reducing sugars, reducing sugars, apparent sucrose, moisture, diastatic activity, hydroxymethylfurfural, ashes, pH, acidity, electric conductivity and color classification), as well as microbiological (total coliforms, fungi and yeasts, psicrothrophic bacteria, mesophilic bacteria and Salmonella sp.) and sensory evaluations (fluidity, color, scent, crystallization, flavor and acceptance). Concerning physicochemical evaluations, 61.90% of the samples were considered within the established standards by Brazilian legislation for honey marketing. Moisture content (16.66% of the samples), reducing sugars (14.28% of the samples), ashes (4.76% of the samples) and HMF (2.38% of the samples) disqualified part of the studies samples. Microbiological evaluations for total coliforms resulted in counts under 3.0NMP.g-1 and no sample having psicrothrophic bacteria nor Salmonella sp. Sensory evaluation confirmed good acceptance of the honey samples. In a general way, mostly all A. mellifera honey samples produced by familiar farmers in the Iguape bay are in conformity with the marketing legislation, having good quality for human consumption.