Physicochemical and microbiological analysis of africanized bee (Apis mellifera) honey

Honey is an easy-access product largely consumed by the population, due to its natural medicine remedy and high sugar content. It’s a naturally produced food and needs human manipulation to extract and pack the product, but those factors, including microorganisms, enzymatic reaction and physical hazard can make it unsafe for human consumption. So, physical-chemical and microbiological characterization of honey from Apis mellifera africanized sold at AGROUFAM market (Manaus, AM - Brazil) was realized, in order to verify if the analyzed parameters of the product were in agreement with the brazilian law (Instrução Normativa nº 11, de novembro de 2000). Three honey samples were obtained at the market in October/2018 (sample A), February/2019 (sample B) and May/2019 (sample C). The analysis followed the methodology of Instituto Adolfo Lutz, of Association of Analytical Chemistry (AOAC) and of the law “Instrução Normativa nº 62, de 26 de Agosto de 2003”. The physical-chemical parameters analyzed and its respectives values were: pH (A: 3,4733±0,01; B: 3,7367±0,02; C: 3,7000±0,02), turbidity (A: 67,4000±1,24 NTU; B: 87,4000±0,91 NTU; C: 28,8333 NTU), total soluble solid (A: 78,1333±0,31 °Brix; B: 78,6333±0,82 °Brix; C: 78,7667±0,05 °Brix), acidity (A: 37,1371±0,94 meq/kg; B: 21,8844±2,15 meq/kg; C: 36,4740±2,04 meq/kg), electric conductivity (A: 6,4933x10-4 S.cm-1; B: 5,6767 x10-4 S.cm-1; C: 4,5067x10-4 S.cm-1), ash (A: 0,4503±0,04 g/100g; B: 1,2136±0,04 g/100g; C: 0,4841±0 g/100g), humidity (A: 20,2667±0,25 g/100g; B: 19,8000±0,91 g/100g; C: 19,6667±0,09 g/100g) and insoluble solid (A: 0,0065±0,0005 g/100g; B: 0,0375±0,0058 g/100g; C: 0,0382±0,0078 g/100g). The microbiological parameters analyzed and its respectives values were: total coliforms (<3 NPM/g), thermotolerant (<3 NMP/g) and salmonellas (absent in 25 g). Those values match the food safety standard, therefore, the honey sold at AGROUFAM is safe for human consumption.