Hygienic quality of the honey samples produced in the Iran in comparison with international standards
2018
Zahedi Namini, N. | Mousavi, M. H. | Mahmoudi, R. | Hassanzadeh, P.
Honey is a sweet, viscous liquid that bees produce from nectar collected from plant nectarines and store as food. In this study, some physicochemical properties (pH, ash, reducing sugars, sucrose, moisture, electrical conductivity, diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and commercial glucose) and microbial contaminations of 180 honey samples from North-western regions of Iran (Ardabil province) were evaluated in one year period in different seasons of 2012. The levels of reducing sugars, sucrose content and HMF of 6.11%, 8.33% and 3.33% samples were unacceptable, respectively. Diastase activity of 4 samples (2.22%) was negative and 5 samples (2.77%) had commercial glucose. But moisture, ash content, pH and electrical conductivity values of all samples were in the required standard range. The amounts of moisture and electrical conductivity value during various seasons show statistically significant differences (P ≤ 0.05). Microbial analyse results showed that of all the samples evaluated, only 13 samples (7.22%) contained mold, and 10 samples (5.55%) were contaminated with bacteria. The standard plate counts (SPC) were found in low numbers in most samples of honey with a mean count of 2.6 Log10 CFU.g-1. The results of this study may help improve researchers’ understanding of honey properties and their impact on consumer preference.
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