Safety and quality indicators of rapeseed and sunflower honey from different regions of Ukraine

Abstract

The relevance of the study lies in the growing demand for safe and high-quality bee products, primarily honey, and the non-admission of low-quality products that can harm the health of consumers in the Ukrainian and European Union markets. In Ukraine, sunflower and rapeseed honey are in the greatest demand in export potential. The purpose of the study is to determine the compliance of rapeseed and sunflower honey obtained in Ukraine with the requirements of national and European Food legislation. To achieve this purpose, organoleptic methods of natural honey research were used and the diastase number, acidity, content of pollen grains, mass fraction of water, mass fraction of reducing sugars, sucrose, and hydroxymethylfurfural were determined. Analysis of rapeseed honey for the presence of genetically modified pollen was conducted using the polymerase chain reaction method in real time. It was established that prototypes of sunflower honey from Vinnytsia, Odesa, and Kyiv regions met the requirements of the national standard and European Food legislation, without signs of fraud. Currently, the use of genetically modified organisms is subject to regulation. Samples of rapeseed honey taken from the Vinnytsia, Odesa, and Kyiv regions did not contain genetically modified deoxyribonucleic acid. In terms of physical and chemical parameters, rapeseed honey met the requirements of the national standard. Honey collected in the Kyiv and Vinnytsia regions had an average water content of more than 18.5%, which meets the requirements for first-grade honey according to the national standard. Honey collected in the Odesa region corresponded to the indicators of the top-grade honey, the water content in it averaged 17.7%. According to the main physical and chemical indicators, rapeseed honey collected in Ukraine also meets the requirements of European food legislation. In addition, rapeseed and sunflower honey from the Vinnytsia, Odesa, and Kyiv regions are natural and can be sold not only in Ukraine but also on the territory of the European Union and the World Trade Organisation