Comparative study of labelled bee honey from Poland and the result of the melissopalynological analysis

Abstract

The definition of a variety of natural bee honey is based on a melissopalynological analysis of the pollen grains that are the most prevalent and naming the variety of honey according to the botanical name of the plant. The purpose of this work was to compare the declarations of beekeepers regarding a variety of bee honey from Poland with the results of laboratory analysis. The study was conducted on 100 samples of bee honey. It was shown that 48% of the samples were incorrectly classified in the declared variety. Only heather honey samples showed 100% correct classification. In contrast, 7% of rape honey, 13% of buckwheat, 58% of multifloral, 68% of linden, 100% of dandelion and 100% of willow honey were wrongly named. The consumer, when looking for a specific variety of bee honey, expects health benefits, which is why individual parameters defining the quality of bee honeys, especially varieties, should be the subject of detailed and continuous monitoring.

Keywords:

• botanic authenticity
• pollen grains
• melissopalynology
• honey

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Statutory Project – Medical University of Bialystok - under Grant N/ST/MN/002/2216 (154–16556 F).