A Preliminary Study of Chemical Profiles of Honey, Cerumen, and Propolis of the African Stingless Bee Meliponula ferruginea.

ABSTRACT: Recently, the honey and propolis of stingless bees have been attracting growing attention because of their health-promoting properties. However, studies on these products of African Meliponini are still very scarce. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the chemical composition of honey, two cerumen, and two resin deposits (propolis) samples of Meliponula ferruginea from Tanzania. The honey of M. ferruginea was profiled by NMR and indicated different long-term stability from Apis mellifera European (Bulgarian) honey. It differed significantly in sugar and organic acids content and had a very high amount of the disaccharide trehalulose, known for its bioactivities. We suggested trehalulose to be a potential marker for African stingless bee honey analogously to the recent proposal for Melip

SUBMITTER: Popova M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8147412 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature