Abstract :
Abstract The tubi bee (Scaptotrigona sp.) is a species of stingless bee that belongs to the Meliponini tribe (Hymenoptera, Apidae), found mainly in tropical forests, and in Brazil, the species occurs in the north, northeast, southeast and center regions west. The lack of technical regulation of identity and standard for the production of honey from the tubi bee is an obstacle for the productive chain of this species, since meliponiculture is an alternative income generation activity of great importance for traditional populations. Thus, aiming to contribute to the evaluation of the quality of honey from stingless bees, this work aimed to evaluate the maturity parameters of samples of honey from tubi bees. Moisture, reducing sugars and apparent sucrose analyzes were performed at the Laboratory of Macromolecules and Natural Products at the State University of Maranhão. According to the results obtained for the maturity parameters, the honey samples showed an average total moisture percentage of 26.29% ± 1.47, for reducing sugars the total average found was 53.97 g.100 g-1 ± 2 ,71 and for apparent sucrose, the average total value obtained was 6.29 g.100 g-1 ± 2.97, ranging from 2.84 to 11.19 g.100 g-1. It was observed that the results found are compatible with the standards established for honey from meliponines in Brazil. Honey from stingless tubi bees has composition and chemical characteristics specific to the species.
Keyword :
Keywords: Stingless bee, Physical-chemical parameters, Maranhão