Analysis of Elements and Physicochemical and Microbial Properties of Iranian Honeys

Majid Arabameri; Mahsa Naghashan; Mahsa Ahmadloo; Mojtaba Moazzen; Alireza Gholampour Aliabadi; Nabi Shariatifar

doi:10.1007/s12011-023-03989-2

Analysis of Elements and Physicochemical and Microbial Properties of Iranian Honeys

Biol Trace Elem Res. 2023 Dec 14. doi: 10.1007/s12011-023-03989-2. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Majid Arabameri¹, Mahsa Naghashan², Mahsa Ahmadloo³, Mojtaba Moazzen⁴, Alireza Gholampour Aliabadi⁵, Nabi Shariatifar⁶

Affiliations

¹ Food and Drug Laboratory Research Center, Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
² Department of Food Science and Technology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
³ Department of Food Safety and Hygiene, School of Public Health, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
⁴ Department of Food Technology Research, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Department of Executive Master of Business Administration, School of Management, Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. nshariatifar@ut.ac.ir.

PMID: 38093020
DOI: 10.1007/s12011-023-03989-2

Abstract

Honey is one of the most valuable food products, which, in addition to its nutritional value, also has therapeutic properties. In our study, the physicochemical (Brix, viscosity, free acid content, pH, moisture, diastase activity, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), proline content, sugars content, and reducing sugars content) and microbial (mold and yeast content) characteristics and 15 element contents (As, Cd, K, Al, Pb, Hg, Ba, Ni, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Se) of the samples were evaluated. Among the essential elements, the maximum mean was related to K (630 ± 50.8 mg/kg), and the minimum mean was related to Se that was lower than the limit of detection. Also, among all toxic elements, the maximum mean was related to Ni (234 ± 54.7 µg/kg), and the minimum mean was related to Hg that was lower than the limit of detection. Furthermore, the mean of free acidity, pH, °Brix, moisture, diastase content, HMF, and proline content was 35.4 ± 1.27 meq/kg, 4.61 ± 0.21, 82.2 ± 3.08, 16.3 ± 0.33%, 9.10 ± 1.14 DN, 21.1 ± 2.65 mg/kg, and 482 ± 18.1 mg/kg, respectively. Also, the mean percentage of fructose, glucose, and sucrose was 32.4 ± 1.07% (27.5-40.0%), 27.2 ± 0.85% (23.5-31.7%), and 2.28 ± 0.70% (0.72-4.11%), respectively. Finally, the mean of mold and yeast in all samples was 14.2 ± 0.37 CFU/g. Also, the principal component analysis and heat map allowed us to determine a more accurate distinction between the physicochemical characteristics of bee honey. The results of our findings showed that in most cases, the results obtained were within the standard range, which indicates the good quality of Iranian honeys.

Keywords: Essential elements; Honey; Microbial properties; Physicochemical properties; Toxic elements.