Honey and bee pollen produced by Meliponini (Apidae) in Alagoas, Brazil: multivariate analysis of physicochemical and antioxidant profiles

This study evidenced the physicochemical composition and antioxidant activity (AA) of honeys (n = 31) and pollen (n = 25) of stingless bees species from Alagoas, Brazil. Fifteen parameters were studied under the light of a multivariate analysis. A dendrogram with three groups of honeys was stablished for the different bees, being the group III formed exclusively by samples from genus Melipona. Plebeia sp. and Tetragona clavipes Fabricius (1804) produced honeys with higher pH/acidity, electrical conductivity, phenolic total and AA. Even different bees from the same meliponary, as M. asilvai and T. clavipes, produced honeys with different AA and chemical profiles, possibly due their different nectar preference. The multivariate analysis of the bee pollen samples also showed three principal components responsible for 74.52% of their variability, clustering nine groups strongly influenced by total phenolics and AA. Honey and pollen produced by T. clavipes had the highest phenolic content and AA. Therefore, the chemical characteristics and AA of the Meliponini honey and bee pollen showed here can give support to the market to influence their incorporation in the human diet as sources of potential functional foods.