Compostos fenólicos, atividade antioxidante e características físico-químicas de mel e pólen coletados por Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

Honey and pollen are basic compounds employed by Apis mellifera in its feeding. The first, of energetic nature and, the second, related to a source of protein. These compounds are also used by man with the same end, however, evaluating honey and pollen physically and chemically is a necessity, obtaining reference indexes regarding the quality of these compounds, for human consumption. Thus, we aimed at evaluating: a) the contents of phenolic compounds in honeys and pollens collected by A. mellifera; b) the physical-chemical composition of honeys produced by A. mellifera and its fitting into Brazilian legislation; c) the phenolic contents of the pollen using different solvents; 4) the antioxidant activity of the honey and pollen by means of the DPPH and β-carotene-linoleic acid methods. The honey samples were obtained in the apiary of the Universidade Federal de Lavras – UFLA, and the commercial pollen from the municipality of Neópolis – SE, Brazil. The laboratory analyses of these compounds showed that the highest contents of phenolic compounds in honey were obtained from samples collected during months with lower pluviometric regimen. Regarding the pollen, we verified that the contents of phenolic compounds were influenced by the type of extractor used. The employment of acetone, 70% ethanol or the association of both in these same concentrations, allowed the achievement of higher percentages of phenolic compounds. The physical-chemical analyses showed that the evaluated honeys were inside the quality indexes established by Brazilian legislation. The chromatography showed the presence of phenolic compounds, with higher occurrence of: gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid and p-cumaric acid. The antioxidant activity of the honeys, determined by the evaluated methods, were superior in periods of less relative air humidity.