'MIEL DE ANGELITÁ': NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF Tetragonisca angustula HONEY

Pre-Hispanic cultures that lived in territories of Central and South America practiced meliponiculture, extracting and processing honey and other products from several stingless bee species. Colonization of these territories introduced beekeeping of Apis mellifera, and practically eliminated meliponiculture. Nevertheless, honey of the species Trigona angustula (Latreille, 1811), called 'miel de angelita' (or 'little-angel honey') has retained a place in the traditional market, with about ten times the cost of A. mellifera honey. Due to its scarcity and to the fact that it is popularly considered to have medicinal properties. Although there are noticeable differences between miel de angelita and common A. mellifera honeys, the lack of objective quality standards has often allowed falsification. Thus, assessment of its physicochemical properties is of interest. In this study, the main nutritional and physicochemical characteristics were analyzed in 44 samples from seven regions of Colombia. Results showed a major composition of 24.3 plus or minus 2.3% moisture, 23.5 plus or minus 6.4% glucose, 30.1 plus or minus 5.4% fructose and 4.2 plus or minus 2.4% disaccharides (sucrose and maltose). The honeys presented 0.205 plus or minus 0.070% ash, 155.0 plus or minus 65.1ppm Na, 576.6 plus or minus 177.6ppm K, 199.6 plus or minus 63.4ppm Ca, 56.0 plus or minus 27.5ppm Mg, 5.8 plus or minus 2.3ppm Fe, 0.9 plus or minus 0.3ppm Cu, and 19.6 plus or minus 8.3 Zn. Free acidity, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content, pH, conductivity, specific rotation, diastase activity and color (on the Pfund scale) were also assessed. This study constitutes the basis for establishing quality standards of this valuable honey in Colombia.