Comparative study of the physicochemical and palynological characteristics of honey from Melipona subnitida and Apis mellifera

Twenty‐four samples of Apis mellifera honey and twenty‐four samples of Melipona subnitida (Jandaira) honey were collected in the northeast of Brazil. Moisture, hydroxymethylfurfural, free acidity, insoluble solids in water, diastase activity, ashes, electrical conductivity, proteins, lipids, total carbohydrates, energy and sugars were the parameters analysed. The efficiency of the qualitative tests (Fiehe's test, Lugol's reaction, Lund's reaction) was tested. Pollen types and the corresponding plant species were identified in all samples (3 in Apis and 1 in Melipona). Apis mellifera honey samples demonstrated parameters in accordance with the Brazilian Legislation, while the Melipona subnitida honey samples displayed moisture (24.80%) and diastase activity (null) in discordance with the established by the regulation for Apis mellifera honeys. Apis honey samples presented higher values of electric conductivity (284.00 μS cm^?1) than the obtained from the Jandaira honey samples (102.77 μS cm^?1) as well as a darker colour (26.67 mmPfund) when compared with Jandaira honey (7.00 mmPfund). The concentration of the glucose, fructose and sucrose was higher in the Apis honeys than in the Jandaira honey. The characteristics of the two types of honey were very different, highlighting the need of developing specific legislation for stingless bees' honey.     

蜜蜂蜂王不同于工蜂的关键因素-蜂王浆主蛋白1

蜂王浆是决定蜜蜂幼虫发育中级型分化,即成为蜂王还是工蜂的关键环境因素,而蜂王浆主蛋白(main royal jelly proteins,MRJPs)是反映蜂王浆新鲜度的重要指标。日本镰仓昌树以蜜蜂和果蝇为模型的最新研究表明,MRJP1是蜂王浆中决定蜜蜂级型分化的关键因子,该蛋白可通过激活虫体脂肪体中的表皮生长因子信号通路,引发个体增大、发育时间缩短和卵巢发育等蜂王特征的出现。因此,今后很有必要进一步开展MRJP1对人体的营养功能和作用机理研究,为MRJP1应用于功能食品提供科学依据。     

Honey major protein characterization and its application to adulteration detection

The major proteins in honey have different molecular weights depending upon the honeybee species. To confirm the origin of major honey proteins, honey protein produced by Apis cerana or Apis mellifera were purified and analyzed by MALDI-TOF. Two major proteins were identified as a major royal jelly protein 1. Although two major proteins shared primary structure, they showed different molecular weights of 56 and 59 kDa, respectively. To discriminate the honeybee species producing honey using SDS–PAGE, artificial marker proteins, 56 and 59 kDa, were produced from Escherichia coli. Two artificial marker proteins were co-electrophoresed with honey samples and the difference in molecular weight was readily distinguished by SDS–PAGE. Therefore, the measurement of major proteins in honey is a useful method to discriminate the honey that produced from different honeybee species.     

Chemometric Classification of Comb and Cuticular Waxes of the Honeybee Apis Mellifera Carnica

Waxes are important as building material and for the chemical communication of the honeybee Apis mellifera carnica. In this study chemometric tools were established for classifying the different waxes inside the hive. By using gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry, components of different types of waxes were analyzed. By considering different substance classes of waxes, discriminant function analyses revealed distinct subtypes of comb waxes and of cuticular waxes. It is shown that the aging of comb wax is in part a spontaneous physicochemical process due to differential volatilities of compound classes with different chain length ranges. On the other hand it is directly influenced by the bees by adding lipolytic enzymes to the comb wax. The data suggest that the varying cuticular wax and comb wax compositions could serve as cues for bees to recognize castes, sexes, or comb age.     

贵州黄花梨蜂蜜的品质分析

首次对贵州中华蜜蜂黄花梨蜂蜜的感官指标、理化指标、卫生指标、营养成分、活性成分和安全性指标等进行检测分析,探讨其品质特性和安全性。根据相关标准规定的方法对上述各项指标进行测定,结果显示贵州黄花梨蜂蜜呈浅琥珀色,口感甘甜,有黄花梨花香味,常温下呈粘稠状,低温易结晶;水分含量19.43%,果糖和葡萄糖含量66.47%,蔗糖含量0.25%,酸度37.44 mL/kg,羟甲基糠醛含量0.91 mg/kg,淀粉酶活性28.20 mL·g-1·h-1;微生物含量符合标准规定;铁元素含量3.1767 mg/kg,锌元素含量1.6870 mg/kg,蛋白质含量0.36 g/100g,维生素C含量1.38 mg/100g,在检测的16种氨基酸中,天冬氨酸的含量最高（0.0400 g/100g）,谷氨酸（0.0373 g/100g）、异亮氨酸（0.0303 g/100g）、脯氨酸（0.0280 g/100g）和苯丙氨酸（0.0277 g/100g）次之,酪氨酸和蛋氨酸则未检出;超氧化物歧化酶活性4.29 U/g,总三萜含量65.97 mg/100g,总黄酮含量和兽药残留量未检出,重金属含量极低。本研究结果表明了产自贵州的黄花梨蜂蜜为健康安全的蜂蜜食品,并达到了蜂蜜标准的一级品水平要求。     

Indigestible fraction and starch availability in peas measured in vitro

 Profiles of flavonoid compounds of Apis mellifera and Melipona spp. honeys from Venezuela were analysed to evaluate entomological-dependent differences. The presence of ellagic acid was a characteristic of A. mellifera honeys from Venezuela, but its presence was variable in Melipona spp. samples. The number of flavonoid types present in individual samples did not exceed six and occasionally only one phenolic type was present. The diversity of flavonoid compounds in tropical honeys from Venezuela was lower than that previously measured in temperate honeys. Flavonoids such as myricetin, an unidentified chalcone and a flavonol glycoside were only found in Melipona honeys but not in all the samples; therefore, they cannot be foreseen as entomological markers to differentiate between the Apis and Melipona honeys under study. A preliminary discussion is made regarding flavonoids present in Melipona honeys and their probable link with the putative anticataract action of stingless bee-honeys. Received: 22 February 1996     

Mandibular gland components of european and africanized honey bee queens (Apis mellifera L.)

The composition of the five-component honey bee queen mandibular gland pheromone (QMP) of mated European honey bee queens was compared to those of virgin and drone-laying (i.e., laying only haploid unfertilized eggs that develop into males), European queens and Africanized mated queens. QMP of mated European queens showed significantly greater quantities of individual components than all queen types compared, except for a significantly greater quantity of 9-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid (9-HDA) found in Africanized queens. Glands of European drone-laying queens contained quantities intermediate between virgin and mated queens, reflecting their intermediate reproductive state and age. QMP ontogeny shifts from a high proportion of 9-keto-(E)-2-decenoic acid (ODA) in young unmated queens to roughly equal proportions of ODA and 9-HDA in mated queens. A biosynthetic shift occurs after mating that results in a greater proportion of 9-HDA, methylp-hydroxybenzoate (HOB), and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethanol (HVA) production, accompanied by a decreased proportion of ODA. Africanized QMP proportions of ODA and 9-HDA were significantly different from European queens. A quantitative definition of a queen equivalent of QMP is proposed for the various queen types, and a standard queen equivalent for mated European honeybee queen mandibular gland pheromone is adopted as 200µg ODA, 80µg 9-HDA, 20µg HOB, and 2 µg HVA.     

Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) queen feces: Source of a pheromone that repels worker bees

When placed in a small observation arena with workers, most young virgin honeybee queens released fecal (hindgut) material during agonistic interactions with workers and with each other. On release of this material, workers moved to the sides of the arena and groomed themselves. Bioassays of virgin queen fecal material demonstrated that it contains pheromone that repels workers and stimulates grooming behavior. Pheromone was present only in the feces of virgin queens that were more than 24 hr old and less than 2 weeks old. Feces of 2- to 4-day-old workers and virgin queens more than 2 weeks old did not elicit an avoidance response by workers. Moreover, the feces of young virgin queens had a strong fragrance, while that of older queens had a rancid odor and that of young workers had no detectable odor.     

Nasonov pheromone of the honeybee.Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera,Apidae)

Electroantennogram (EAG) responses from worker honeybee antennae were obtained for each Nasonov component. Response amplitudes to 10 g of components correlated well with reported relative abilities to attract foragers in the field. EAG responses of worker, queen, and drone antennae to natural pheromone were consistently greater than to synthetic pheromone, a difference only partly explained by enzymic conversion of geraniol to (E)-citral during preparation of natural extracts.     

Associative Olfactory Learning of Honeybees to Differential Rewards in Multiple Contexts—Effect of Odor Component and Mixture Similarity

Discrimination among differentially rewarding flowers allows honeybees to maximize their foraging efficiency. We studied how honeybees are able to relate to differential positive rewards when the odor representations are either structurally dissimilar, structurally similar (or form a substrate–product duo in planta), or form a binary mixture sharing a common constituent. Bees were tested both in conditioning of the proboscis-extension response (PER) and in a free-flying context. Our results point to honeybees using olfactory associative learning to differentiate between two positively rewarded odors. In PER, subjects discriminated best between dissimilar odors; they initially generalized between similar odors, but eventually learned to discriminate between them. The discrimination between mixtures sharing a common constituent remained poor. Likewise, the difference in visits to low- and high-rewarding flowers of free-flying bees was greater for dissimilar odors than for binary mixtures sharing a common constituent. Consequences of the operant conditioning nature of the free-flying context are discussed.