IDENTIFICATION OF THE BOTANICAL ORIGIN AND DETERMINATION OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF HONEY SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM THE SARY-CHELEK BIOSPHERE RESERVE OF KYRGYZSTAN

Abstract

Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve is one of the richest rare flora and animal reserves in Kyrgyzstan. The natural environment of the Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve is exceptionally favourable to high-quality honey production. Botanical authenticity is the main factor influencing honey prices, as it has a direct impact on the quality of honey. Producing monofloral honey in a natural landscape is challenging because, throughout the beekeeping season, multiple melliferous plants bloom at the same time. The article describes for the first time the botanical origin and physicochemical characteristics of honey collected in this biosphere reserve and also determines the influence of the dominant honey plant on organoleptic, physicochemical, and food safety indicators. Pollen grains of 50 taxa of nectar sources and about 10 taxa of pollen sources were identified. There were unique plant pollens in the samples; nine of the samples were monofloral honey—three of sage (Salvia officinalis L.), four of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), and two of eremurus (Eremurus fuscus O.Fedtsch), and eight samples were polyfloral honey. High diastase activity was found in samples of thyme honey (41.1 ± 2.9 Gothe) and in samples of sage honey (31.3 ± 2.2 Gothe). The physicochemical and food safety parameters of the honey samples comply with the established norms and international standards.