Physicochemical and Microbiological Standards of Honey Produced by Genus Melipona

Abstract

Abstract For thousands of years, honey from stingless bees, mainly from Melipona beecheii, has been recognized as part of traditional Mayan medicine in the Mesoamerican region. Currently Melipona honey is the subject of research due to its nutritional, therapeutic and commercial value. Studies have been conducted to characterize Melipona honey produced on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in, but the results have been limited. The low production and botanical-geographical origin of the honey increases the variability of the results and also the real number of Melipona beekeepers in the area is unknown so we are unable to conduct a statistically representative sampling and enough information to establish a generalization of the information. Therefore, we reviewed the published articles that describe the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of the honey of some species of the genus Melipona. The information analyzed indicated that some of these characteristics are out of the specifications established by the standard that applies to Apis mellifera honey, without this meaning that it is of lesser quality and therefore. Because production and commercialization of this product is prospering, physicochemical and microbiological standards must be established to avoid adulteration and complications to public health, since this product is widely used for therapeutic purposes.