The physicochemical characterization and the effect of storage conditions on quality of Johor stingless bee honey

Stingless bee is the most commonly reared here in Malaysia for its beneficial and profitable honey. However, the information on physical and chemical characteristics of the stingless bee honey is still limited, because of limited honey production due to the physical characteristic of the bee. Besides that, the need concerning the most effective storage conditions for stingless bee honey arises since storage of honey is important to maintain the nutritional benefits of the honey. Therefore, the objectives of this study aimed to determine the physicochemical characterization and to investigate the effect of storage conditions on Johor stingless bee honey quality. This study represents the characteristics of 27 stingless bee honey samples, obtained from 10 districts of Johor, Malaysia. This study was first to characterized Johor stingless bee honey quality by evaluating the physical parameters and chemical parameters of the stingless bee honey. After that, the effect of the temperature (4°C, 24°C and 35°C) and duration (30 to 90 days) of storage on the selected Johor stingless bee honey sample were examined using three parameters, moisture content, acidity and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content. Physicochemical parameters were assessed in triplicates and the data were analysed statistically. The results showed a correlation between moisture content with total soluble solids and carbohydrate, color with total phenolic content, HMF content with pH, while 2-2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity was not correlated with both total phenolic and flavonoid content. Principal component analysis presented that the stingless bee honey distributions from the same districts were distinguishable. The experiment on the effect of storage conditions on Johor stingless bee honey showed a strong correlation between storage conditions with moisture content, acidity, and HMF content which showed that the changes in the nutritional characteristics of the stingless bee honey was influenced by the storage. All parameters showed the smallest increased in 30 days at 4°C respectively, hence were the most desirable conditions. The findings from this study were expected to contribute useful information for the physicochemical standardization of stingless bee honey in Malaysia especially in Johor and help the Malaysian stingless bee honey industry to control safety, quality, and efficacy of honey