QUALITY PARAMETERS OF HONEYBEE APIS MELLIFERA IN APIARIES OF THE RURAL AREA MANABITA ECUADOR

Abstract

Beekeeping is an activity that complements agriculture. In order to determine the quality parameters in apiaries of 2 cantons of the province of Manabí, Ecuador, quality analyzes were carried out on 5 samples of honey from bees, which were selected by means of a stratified sampling scheme. As a result, physical and chemical quality parameters were obtained such as free acidity, total acidity, lactones, insoluble solids, total solids, electrical conductivity, pH; Chemical quality parameters of honey such as humidity, sugars, fructose, sucrose, glucose and ash, as well as honey freshness parameters such as hydroxymethylfurfural and diastatic activity, within the parameters established by the technical standard NTE INEN 1472, complying with the quality parameters established by the Ecuadorian standard and international CODEX. It is concluded that the bee production studied complies with the Ecuadorian regulations that regulate the production and marketing of honey from bees within the country