Caracterização físico-química, conteúdo em bioativos e perfil volátil de méis do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Apiculture is an activity with substantial economic growth in Brazil as it is associated with the principles of a current market of notable consumption of natural foods. Honey is a product considered with higher trends possibility and with economy relevance in the apiculture market of the estate of Rio Grande do Sul in the south of Brazil. In order to highlight the quality of the honey produced in this state, it was performed some physical-chemical analysis (moisture, soluble solids, acidity, electrical conductivity, coloring) of bioactive compounds (phenolic compounds and carotenoids) of antioxidant capacity in vitro (by the methods of DPPH and ABTS) and antibacterial activity (MIC). Along with these results, it was proposed the volatile profile (CG-MS) in the honeys types with the purpose to check specific features related to its botanic and geographic source. The total content of phenolics, flavonoids, phenolic acids, carotenoids and antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS) differed significantly to the most of the samples tested presenting results between 61,7 and 111,37mgEAG.100g-¹; 2,98 and 10,46mgEQ.100g-¹; 0 and 65,47mgEAC.100g-¹; 0,56 and 6,19mgβ-carotene.kg-¹; 2,48 and 17,21mgEAQ.100g-¹;and from 8,24 to 112,48mgtrolox.100g-¹, respectively. All the honey samples have showed antibacterial activity if compared to the four bacteria tested ( Shiguella dysenteria, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Babillus cereus) with results of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) ranging from 10 to 350mg. mL-¹ of water. The results of the samples were suitable with regards to pH (3,85), electrical conductivity (685µS.cm-¹) and hydroxymethylfurfural content (5,18mg.kg-¹), however 42% of the honeys tested have showed moisture content and or acidity content out of the limits defined by Brazilian laws. The flavonoids catechin, epicatechin and hesperetin were the phenolic compounds presented with highest concentration in the honeys tested. Through the determination of volatile profile, it was possible to identify the typical aromas of each region such as urban, northeast, western, southeast and southwest. Furthermore, it was possible to identify the Eucalyptus honey in the samples M18 and M19 that came from southwest of Rio Grande do Sul state.