PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF HONEY FROM Apis mellifera IN TRACUATEUA-PARÁ ORIGINATING FROM TWO ECOSYSTEMS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61164/d7pz3e57Keywords:
Amazon, Animal Product, Bee product, Sustainability.Abstract
Honey is a product originating from bees, with diverse uses by humanity (cosmetic, food, therapeutic,
etc.), present in ancient human civilizations and even to the present day. This study investigated the
influence of mangrove and secondary forest ecosystems on the phytochemical profile of honeys
produced by Apis mellifera in the municipality of Tracuateua, Pará. The results showed significant
differences between the ecosystems for all phytochemical components. Honeys from secondary
forests presented higher levels of total polyphenols, anthocyanins, and carotenoids, while those from
mangroves exhibited a higher concentration of flavonoids, possibly due to the environmental stress
of this biome, marked by salinity and water variations. Despite this, the levels of metabolites found
are insufficient to characterize honey as a primary source of these compounds in the diet, but
reinforce its potential as a food supplement. Multivariate analyses (PCA and HCA) clearly
discriminated the ecological origin of the samples, highlighting the influence of local floral diversity. It
is concluded that the ecosystem plays a decisive role in the phytochemical composition of honeys,
and that the combination of laboratory analyses and statistical tools is effective in characterizing their
origin.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Caio Henrique Borges Lima, Gustavo Valente Costa, Maria Helena Holanda de Mendonça, Caique Douglas Pantoja Gomes, Karolina Carvalho de Souza, Samantha Siqueira Pantoja, Ewerton Carvalho de Souza, Antonio dos Santos Silva
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