Abstract This study evidenced the physicochemical composition and antioxidant activity (AA) of honeys (n = 31) and pollen (n = 25) of stingless bees species from Alagoas, Brazil. Fifteen parameters were studied under the light of a multivariate analysis. A dendrogram with three groups of honeys was stablished for the different bees, being the group III formed exclusively by samples from genus Melipona. Plebeia sp. and Tetragona clavipes Fabricius (1804) produced honeys with higher pH/acidity, electrical conductivity, phenolic total and AA. Even different bees from the same meliponary, as M. asilvai and T. clavipes, produced honeys with different AA and chemical profiles, possibly due their different nectar preference. The multivariate analysis of the bee pollen samples also showed three principal components responsible for 74.52% of their variability, clustering nine groups strongly influenced by total phenolics and AA. Honey and pollen produced by T. clavipes had the highest phenolic content and AA. Therefore, the chemical characteristics and AA of the Meliponini honey and bee pollen showed here can give support to the market to influence their incorporation in the human diet as sources of potential functional foods.

RESUMO O pólen apícola resulta da mistura de pólen e néctar floral com substâncias salivares da abelha, e emerge como um alimento com propriedades terapêuticas. Neste trabalho foram analisadas 30 amostras desse material de apiários (Apis mellifera), coletadas durante a estação seca de 2008/09 em três mesorregiões de Alagoas - Mata Atlântica, Costa Sul e Caatinga. A Mata Atlântica e a Caatinga foram regiões boas produtoras de pólen apícola. Na mesma época, a Mata Atlântica apresentou a maior diversidade de tipos de pólen para alimentar abelhas, com predominância de herbáceas (63%), enquanto as amostras de Caatinga foram monoflorais. Os dados físico-químicos foram analisados pelo teste estatístico não paramétrico de Kruskal-Wallis. As amostras da Caatinga se destacaram quanto ao teor de fenóis (25,85 ± 10,80 eq. mg Ácido Gálico/g), flavonoides totais (45,62 ± 32,19 eq. mg Quercetin/g), e atividade antioxidante (através do teste do DPPH, por exemplo, 70,62 ± 4,50%), provavelmente devido à condição ambiental deste bioma.

ABSTRACT Bee pollen results from the mixture of pollen and floral nectar with the salivary substances of bees and has increasingly been used as a food with therapeutic properties. In this study, 30 samples of bee pollen from Apis mellifera apiaries in three mesoregions of Alagoas (Brazil) - Mata Atlântica, South Coast and Caatinga, were collected during the dry season of 2008/09 and analysed. Mata Atlântica and Caatinga had good production of bee pollen. In the same season, Mata Atlântica contained a higher diversity of pollen types for feeding bees with a predominance of herbaceous pollen (63%), whereas the Caatinga samples contained monofloral pollen. Physicochemical data were analysed with the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis statistical test. The Caatinga samples were analysed to determine their contents of total phenolic compounds (25.85 ± 10.80 mg gallic acid eq/g) and flavonoids (45.62 ± 32.19 mg quercetin eq/g) and their antioxidant activity (for instance, 70.62 ± 4.50% in the DPPH test), which were possibly affected by the environmental conditions of this biome.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência de uma membrana cerâmica (0,8 µm de porosidade) na filtração de soro de leite de búfala (SLB) e comparar a qualidade microbiana e nutricional do filtrado com aquela do soro proveniente do processo de pasteurização (65 ºC, 30 minutos). Foram realizadas sete repetições em que as amostras de SLB colhidas, antes e após a filtração (SF) ou pasteurização (SP), foram caracterizadas quanto ao pH, densidade (d), acidez lática (ºD), umidade (U), extrato seco total (EST), teor de gordura (TG), lactose (Lac) e proteínas (Pro), e também quanto ao número de bactérias aeróbias mesófilas. As amostras in natura de SLB apresentaram médias de pH = 6,31, acidez = 10,00, U = 89,60, EST = 10,40, d = 1,027, P = 1,19%, Lac = 5,84%, e G = 1,20%. Os resultados indicaram que houve uma redução de carga microbiana média de 4,04 x log UFC.mL-1 em AS para 1,50 x log UFC.mL-1 nas amostras de SP e para 0,70 x log UFC.mL-1 nas amostras de SF. Portanto, a microfiltração por membrana cerâmica foi mais eficiente que o processo de pasteurização lenta em relação à redução de carga microbiana.

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of a ceramic membrane with (porosity of 0.8 µm) to filter the whey of buffalo's milk aiming to reduce the microbial charge and characterize the nutritional value of this product. The results were compared with those of the pasteurization process (65 ºC, 30 minutes). Seven assays were carried out by submitting the samples to filtration or pasteurization processes. The samples were then analyzed before (SBF) and after (SAF) filtration and after pasteurization (SAP) regarding the mesophyllic aerobic bacteria count. The milk whey samples before filtration (SBF) was also characterized regarding physico-chemical parameters (pH, density, acidity, humidity, total dried extract, concentration of total fats, lactose, and protein). The results indicate a reduction of the microbial charge from 4.04 x log CFU.mL-1 to 1.50 x log CFU.mL-1 in the SAP samples and to 0.70 x log CFU.mL-1 in the SAF samples. Other findings were pH = 6.29, acidity = 10.07, humidity = 89.94, total dried extract = 10.06, density = 1.029, protein = 1.19%, lactose = 5.85%, and fat = 1.37%. The microfiltration process using a ceramic membrane proved more efficient than the pasteurization process regarding microbial charge reduction.