Determination of the Ca, Mn, Mg and Fe in honey from multiple species of stingless bee produced in Brazil

[Display omitted] •It was possible to determine Fe, Mn, Mg and Ca in 88 samples of honey from Brazil.•Differences in the concentrations of metals in stingless bee honey were observed.•A correlation between the concentration of Fe in honey and the soil type was observed.•Stingless bee honey showed little contribution of minerals for the human diet, in theoretical calculation. Stingless Bees (SB) honey is a product used for different purposes, and it is worth highlighting the presence of metallic species, which can have a nutritional or toxic effect, depending on the metal present and/or the amount ingested. Therefore, the objective of this work was to quickly determine Fe, Mn, Mg and Ca in SB honey, using slurry sampling and FAAS of 88 honey samples from different regions of Brazil. The concentrations varied from Mg > Mn > Fe. Through the principal component analysis, it was verified that the SB honey analyzed in the present study has higher contents of the evaluated metals than the honey of the species Apis mellifera and SB honey from other Brazilian states. Theoretical calculation demonstrated that there is a little contribution of SB honey to human diet in relation to the metals, being more significative for Mn.