Characterization of Algerian honeys by palynological - HAL-Inria

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Characterization of Algerian honeys by palynological
and physico-chemical methods
Chahra Makhloufi, Jacob D. Kerkvliet, Giancarlo Ricciardelli d’Albore, Ali
Choukri, Riad Samar
To cite this version:
Chahra Makhloufi, Jacob D. Kerkvliet, Giancarlo Ricciardelli d’Albore, Ali Choukri, Riad Samar.
Characterization of Algerian honeys by palynological and physico-chemical methods. Apidologie,
2010, 41 (5), ￿10.1051/apido/2010002￿. ￿hal-00892079￿
HAL Id: hal-00892079
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00892079
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Apidologie41(2010)509–521 Availableonlineat:
(cid:2)c INRA/DIB-AGIB/EDPSciences,2010 www.apidologie.org
DOI:10.1051/apido/2010002
Original article
Characterization of Algerian honeys by palynological
and physico-chemical methods*
akhloufi erkvliet icciardelli albore
ChahraM 1,JacobD.K 2,GiancarloR D’ 3,
houkri amar
AliC 4,RiadS 5
1UniversitéibnKhaldounTiaret,FacultédesSciencesAgronomiquesetVétérinaires,14000Tiaret,Algeria
2NetherlandsExpertiseCentreforTropicalApiculturalResources,c/oTwickelstraat9,7651JHTubbergen,
TheNetherlands
3DipartimentodiScienzeAgrariaUniversitàdegliStudidiPerugia,BorgoXXGiugno,06121Perugia,Italy
4CentreUniversitairedeDjelfa.Institutd’Agropastoralisme,17000Djelfa,Algeria
510routedeSougueur,14000Tiaret,Algeria
Received4July2009–Revised21October2009–Accepted22October2009
Abstract–Sixty-sixAlgerianhoneysweresampledforinvestigationontheirpalynologicalandphysico-
chemical properties. Results showed that the total number of pollen grains in 10 g honey ranged from
2.1×103 to1.12×106.Intotal124pollenspecieswereidentifiedandthemainpollenformswereEuca-
lyptusspp.,Oleaeuropaea,Papaverrhoeas,Pimpinellaanisum,Carduussp.andHedysarumcoronarium.
UnifloraleucalypthoneyscouldbedistinguishedfromotherhoneysfromthewesternMediterraneanregion
by the presence of P. rhoeas and Centaurea species. Physico-chemical analyses included moisture con-
tent,pH,electricalconductivity,diastase,invertase,HMFand11sugars.Oftheseparameterstheelectrical
conductivitywassomewhatelevatedcomparedtoEuropeanhoneys,sucrosecontentwasbelow4.3%and
onlysmallamountsofdi-andtrisaccharideswerepresent.Ingeneralthesampleswerefoundtomeetthe
requirementsoftheinternationalhoneystandards.
Algeria/electricalconductivity/honey/melissopalynology/sugar
1. INTRODUCTION trees (Citrus spp.),sunflower (Helianthusan-
nuus),clover(Trifoliumspecies),Frenchhon-
Algeria is the second largest country on eysuckle(Hedysarumcoronarium),Rosemary
the African continent. It has an area of about (Rosmarinus officinalis) and Thyme (Thymus
2.4millionkm2withcirca33.3millioninhab- sp.), provide nectar and pollen for the bees.
itants.Asthecountryisintersectedinthenorth Also natural forests, including pine trees, are
bytheTellAtlasmountains,whichparallelthe goodsourcesforthebeesanditispossibleto
Mediterranean coast, and by the Saharan At- obtain honey all year round (Hussein, 2000;
las in the south three different environmental RicciardelliD’Albore,1998).
and geologic conditions exist. The Tell atlas
The centre part of the country consists of
region enjoys a Mediterranean climate in the
high plateaus with plains and some agricul-
coastalareasandisidealforbeekeeping.The
tureandinthesouthweencounteradesertcli-
mainhoneyflowisduringApril,Mayandthe
mate.HereintheSaharandesert–constituting
first part of June and many trees, cultivated
80%ofthecountryarea–thedatepalmiscul-
crops and wild plants, like eucalypt (Euca-
tivated but the conditions for beekeeping are
lyptuscamaldulensisandE.globulus),orange
unfavourable(Nedjraoui,1981,2001;Hadjiat,
Correspondingauthor:J.D.Kerkvliet, 1997). In the north part of the country bee-
[email protected] keeping playsan importantrole. There is mi-
*Manuscripteditor:StanSchneider gratory beekeepingfor honey production,but
ArticlepublishedbyEDPSciences
510 C.Makhloufietal.
bees are usually not transported for pollina- (Chefrouretal.,2007)thequalityof13honeys
tion.Itisestimatedthattheyearlyhoneypro- from northeast Algeria was evaluated. How-
duction reaches 800 tonnes (Hussein, 2000). ever only a limited numberof honeysamples
Good quality honey is highly appreciated by wereanalyzedinthesestudies.
theconsumerbutduetolimitedknowledgeby In order to contribute to the knowledge of
beekeepers a high standard product is not al- thepropertiesofmultifloralandunifloralhon-
waysachieved. eys from Algeria in more detail we carried
Ingeneralthemainphysico-chemicalqual- out a survey on 66 honey samples originat-
ity criteria for honey are moisture, HMF and ing from the main beekeeping areas, subdi-
enzymecontent.Intheinternationalstandards vided in four regions east, centre, west and
valuesfortheseandotherparametersarespec- south.Itwas ouraim to characterizethe hon-
ified(CodexAlimentariusCommission,2001; eys from these four regions by their paly-
European Commission, 2002; IHC website). nologicaland physico-chemicalproperties,to
The moisture content determines the capabil- compare the data with those from other hon-
ity of the product to remain stable and to re- eys from the western Mediterranean area and
sistspoilagebyyeastfermentation.Maximum to check if the requirements of the interna-
valueis set at20%by weight.As qualitytest tional standards (Codex Alimentarius Com-
for freshness and marker for overheating the mission, 2001; European Commission, 2002;
activityoftheenzymediastase(α-amylase)is IHC website) are met. Palynologicalanalysis
measured(minimum8units)andadditionally was done in combination with moisture con-
in some countries the invertase activity. The tent,pH,electricalconductivity,diastasenum-
amount of HMF, which stands for 5-hydroxy ber, invertase number, hydroxymethylfurfural
methylfurfural,adegradationproductoffruc- (HMF) and the sugar spectrum as additional
tose, is about3 mg/kgforfresh and unheated criteria.
honey but increases during storage, heating The official harmonisedmethods of analy-
andprocessing.HMF-contentisaworldwide ses of the International Honey Commission,
usedimportantqualitycriterionandthemaxi- as published in an extra issue of Apidologie
mumquantityallowedis40mg/kg. (Bogdanovetal.,1997),werefollowedinthis
To verify the botanical origin the determi- study.Recentlythese(updated)methodswere
nationoftheelectricalconductivityandmelis- made availablethroughthe website of the In-
sopalynology (pollen analysis) are used in ternational (former: European) Honey Com-
controllaboratory.Besidesthesugarspectrum mission(IHCwebsite).
cangiveinformationonthistopic. Alsosomeotherqualitycriteriaweredeter-
There are a few publications concerning mined but their results and compliance with
the pollen spectrum of multifloral and uni- the international standards were published
floral honeys produced in Algeria. In the elsewhere(Makhloufietal.,2007).Uptonow
past Louveaux and Abed (1984) performed no study was known to the authors that fo-
anextensivemelissopalynologicalresearchon cussedonthemelissopalynologicalproperties
honey samples from north Africa, includ- as well as on the sugarspectrum and enzyme
ing 59 samples from mainly northern Alge- activityofhoneysharvestedinAlgeria.
riaandRicciardelliD’Albore(1998)mentions
the main pollen types in the Mediterranean
2. MATERIALANDMETHODS
area of Algeria. An undated study published
on internet(Chefrourand Tahar) reportedthe
2.1. Honeysamples
pollen found in six honey samples collected
in east Algeria. Recently two studies, de-
Duringtheyears2003–2005,66honeysamples
scribing the melissopalynological properties (500 g each), produced mainly in the Tell Atlas
together with some physico-chemical quality region of Algeria, were collected on 22 locations.
parameterswerepublished.Oneofthesecon- Theyoriginateddirectlyfrombeekeepers(59sam-
cernedaresearchinwhich11honeyswerein- ples) or fromapicultural corporations (seven sam-
volved(Ouchemoukhetal.,2007);intheother ples). Twentysamples camefrom thewest part of
CharacterizationofAlgerianhoneys 511
N FRANCE ITALY includes honeys with normal pollen representativ-
ity (20 × 103−100 × 103), class III honeys with
over-represented pollen (100 × 103−500 × 103),
class IV with strongly over-represented pollen
SPAIN
(500 × 103−106) and class V includes pressed
honeys(PG/10g >106pollen).
Qualitative melissopalynological analysis – the
MEDITERRANEAN SEA typesofpollengrainswiththeirpercentagesinthe
pollensediment–wascarriedoutbydissolvingthe
CCO 7 1 634 5124 10218912111316 18117915 20 SIA hluotnioenyainnddmiluotuenstuinlpghtuhreicseadciimd,ecnetnitnriKfuagisinegr’sthGelysoc--
O I erol GelatineTM (glycerine jelly). For each sample
R N
O U 300 pollen were counted and their relative fre-
M 22 T quency classes were determined, using the terms
ALGERIA ‘very frequent’ (for pollen constituting > 45% of
thetotal),‘frequent’(16–45%),‘rare’(3–15%)and
‘sporadic’ (< 3%). According to the international
1. Sidi Bel Abbes 12. Boumerdes
2. Tiaret 13. Tizi Ouzou melissopalynological nomenclature pollen occur-
3. Mascara 14. Chlef ring‘veryfrequent’,resp.‘frequent’arecalledpre-
4. Mostagane 15. Constantine
5. Relizane 16. Jijel dominant,resp.secondarypollen;pollenoccurring
6. Saida 17. Mila
7. Tlemcen 18. Sétif rareandsporadicarecalledimportantminorpollen
8. Alger 19. Skikda and minor pollen (Louveaux et al., 1978). For all
9. Blida 20. Tébessa
10. Khemis Miliana 21. Djelfa pollenspeciesinthe66samplestheindividualoc-
11. Médéa 22. Ghardaia
currence was calculated and expressed aspercent-
Figure 1. Map of the geographical origin of the age of the total studied samples in which the de-
honeysamples. termined pollen type was found. Identification of
pollen was done by use of microphotographs and
by preparing a reference collection of pollen of a
the region, 34 samples were from the centre part, great number ofplantsofknown scientificandlo-
eightsamplesfromtheeastandfourfromthesouth. calnames.
All samples were kept refrigerated until analysis.
DetailsofthesamplinglocationsareshowninFig-
ure1andTableI. 2.2.2. Physico-chemicalanalyses
Allphysico-chemicaldeterminationsmentioned
2.2. Methodsofanalysis above, except pH measurements, were carried out
accordingtotheharmonisedmethodsoftheInterna-
2.2.1. Melissopalynologicalanalyses tionalHoneyCommission(Bogdanov etal.,1997;
IHC website). The principle and the instrumental
Quantitative melissopalynological analysis detailsofthemethodswereasfollows.
was performed according to Maurizio’s method For measuring the water content (moisture) an
(Louveaux et al., 1978) by counting microscop- Abberefractometerwasused.
ically the number of pollen present in the honey Electricalconductivitywasdeterminedbyusing
sediment after centrifuging a honey solution. aConsortC951conductometer.
Pollen in 100 fields of view were counted in Forthedeterminationoftheenzymediastase(α-
four fold. The results were based on the average and β-amylase) the Phadebas procedure was fol-
number in the 400 fields of view and expressed lowed.TheabsorbancewasmeasuredwithaVarian
as the number of pollen grains in 10 g honey spectrophotometer,typeUVvisibleCary50.
(PG/10 g) in thousands (103) and rounded to the The measurement of the enzyme invertase (α-
nearest thousand. The honeys were placed into glucosidase) was done following the method of
one of the five pollen representativity classes as Siegenthaler as harmonised by the International
distinguished by Maurizio (Louveaux et al.,1978; Honey Commission (Bogdanov et al., 1997). The
VonderOheetal.,2004).ClassIincludeshoneys absorbancewasmeasuredat400nmwithaVarian
poor in pollen (PG/10 g < 20 × 103), class II spectrophotometertypeUVvisibleCary50.
512 C.Makhloufietal.
Table I. Places of origin, the number of pollen grains in 10 gram, pollen representativity according to
Maurizio’sclassesandpredominantandsecondarypollentypesin66honeysamples.
Sample Placeoforigin Numberof Pollen Predominantandsecondarypollentypes
number pollenin10g class
(PG/10g)
×103
West
E7 Relizane 13.9 I Oleaeuropaea+Citrus
E18 Tiaret 1019.6 V Pimpinellaanisum
E38 Tiaret 25.2 II Vicia
E43 Tiaret 7.3 I Multifloral+Aster
E44 Tiaret 24.1 II Multifloral+Pimpinellaanisum+Daucuscarota
E45 Mostaganem 23.0 II Eucalyptus
E46 Relizane 9.9 I Citrus
E47 Mascara 34.8 II Multifloral+Oleaeuropaea+Hedysarumcoronarium
E48 Tiaret 160.1 III Multifloral+Pimpinellaanisum+Hedysarumcoronarium+
Trifoliumalexandrinum
E49 Tiaret 148.2 III Eucalyptus
E50 Tiaret 18.0 I Multifloral+Eucalyptus
E54 Tiaret 180.0 III Pimpinellaanisum
E55 Tiaret 18.2 I Eucalyptus
E56 Saida 440.0 III Centaurea+Oleaeuropaea
E57 SidiBelAbbes 390.0 III Sedum-type
E60 Tiaret 15.5 I Eucalyptus
E62 Tlemcen 2.7 I Pimpinellaanisum
E63 Tiaret 34.0 II Eucalyptus
E64 Tiaret 23.5 II Hedysarumcoronarium
E66 Tiaret 5.7 I Eucalyptus
Centre
E1 TiziOuzou 46.4 II Hedysarumcoronarium
E2 TiziOuzou 114.3 III Hedysarumcoronarium
E3 TiziOuzou 1120.4 V Hedysarumcoronarium
E4 Alger 10.4 I Oleaeuropaea+Echiumplantagineum
E5 Alger 21.6 II Multifloral+Eucalyptus+Echiumplantagineum
E6 Alger 20.1 II Eucalyptus
E8 Alger 53.9 II Eucalyptus
E13 Alger 24.3 II Eucalyptus
E14 Alger 47.9 II Eucalyptus
E15 Blida 4.5 I Multifloral+Oleaeuropaea+Trifoliumrepens
E16 Blida 27.1 II Multifloral+Reseda
E17 TiziOuzou 140.4 III Multifloral+Cistus+Centaureacyanus
E19 Alger 42.3 II Eucalyptus
E20 Blida 7.5 I Multifloral+Trifoliumrepens
E21 Blida 183.8 III Multifloral+Eucalyptus+Pimpinellaanisum
E22 TiziOuzou 45.7 II Pimpinellaanisum
E23 TiziOuzou 404.3 III Multifloral+Eucalyptus+Echiumplantagineum
E24 TiziOuzou 149.6 III Multifloral+Echiumplantagineum+Trifoliumpratense
E25 Boumerdes 75.4 II Multifloral+Eucalyptus+Hedysarumcoronarium
E27 Médéa 14.1 II Multifloral+Pimpinellaanisum+Hedysarumcoronarium
E31 Médéa 29.8 II Daucuscarota
E33 Chlef 114.9 III Multifloral+Eucalyptus+Pimpinellaanisum
E34 Blida 49.2 II Multifloral+Rubus+Daucuscarota+Eryngium
E35 Alger 92.6 II Eucalyptus
E36 Alger 19.7 I Eucalyptus
E37 Tizi-Ouzou 10.0 I Hedysarumcoronarium
E39 Blida 8.5 I Multifloral+Pimpinellaanisum +Daucuscarota
E40 Blida 7.1 I Multifloral
E41 KhemisMelyana111.6 III Eucalyptus
E42 Blida 52.1 II Pimpinellaanisum
E51 Chlef 31.2 II Citrus+ Olea+Centaurea
E59 Médéa 4.9 I Multifloral+Pimpinellaanisum+Scillabifolia
E61 Blida 53.2 II Eucalyptus
E65 Médéa 15.6 I Pimpinellaanisum
CharacterizationofAlgerianhoneys 513
TableI.Continued.
Sample Placeoforigin Numberof Pollen Predominantandsecondarypollentypes
number pollenin10g class
(PG/10g)×103
East
E9 Sétif 211.6 III Hypecoum+Helianthusannuus
E10 Skikda 9.9 I Multifloral+Trifoliumrepens+Onosis
E11 Jijel 63.6 II Hedysarumcoronarium
E26 Tébessa 159.2 III Rubus+Rosmarinusofficinalis
E30 Sétif 18.4 I Multifloral+Echiumplantagineum
E32 Constantine 85.7 II Multifloral+Echiumplantagineum+Trifoliumpratense
E52 Constantine 2.1 I Multifloral+Hedysarumcoronarium+Trifoliumalexandrinum
E53 Mila 2.6 I Hedysarumcoronarium
South
E12 Ghardaia 145.5 III Eucalyptus
E28 Djelfa 36.5 II Tamarix
E29 Djelfa 51.6 II Rubus
E58 Djelfa 35.1 II Eucalyptus
HMFwasdonebytheWinklermethod.There- this table the samples are arranged according
sultingcolourwasmeasuredat550nmwithaVar- totheirgeographicalregion.
ianspectrophotometer,typeUVvisibleCary50. Twenty-two of the 66 samples (33.3%)
The monosaccharide sugars glucose and fruc- were poor in pollen (< 20 × 103 in 10 g)
tose, the disaccharides sucrose, maltose, isoma- andbelongedconsequentlytoclassI;27sam-
ltose, melibiose, turanose and trehalose and the ples (40.9%) belonged to class II with nor-
trisaccharidesmelicitose,raffinoseanderlosewere mal representativity (20 × 103−100 × 103 in
determined by HPLC over a strong anion ex- 10 g); 15 samples (22.7%) felt into class III
change resin with pulsed amperometric detection. (100×103−500×103 in10g)and2samples
Some years ago the method was subjected to a
(3.0%) in class V; they contained more than
ring trial with seven laboratories by the European
106 pollen in 10 g, an indication for pressed
Honey Commission for fructose, glucose and su-
honeys.
crose(Bogdanovetal.,1997;IHCwebsite).
ForpHdetermination5gramhoneywasdiluted
3.2. Qualitativemelissopalynological
to50mLand thepH valuewasmeasured withan
Orion940/960pHmeter(JournalOfficielFrançais, analysis
1977).
Inqualitativepollenanalysisa totalof124
pollen species were identified. The number
2.2.3. Statisticalanalyses of pollen forms per sample ranged from nine
(in samples E3 and E4) to 31 (E64), with
an average value of 14. For all 66 samples
In order to estimate if there was a statistically
significantdifferenceinthephysico-chemicalcom- the presence of the 23 predominant and sec-
positionofthehoneysamplesfromthefourregions ondarypollenspeciesisshowninTableIand
one-wayANOVAanalysiswasappliedtothedata. for the main 30 pollen types, presentin more
For all honeys correlation analysis was performed than 15% of the honey samples, the individ-
betweentheparameters. ualpollenoccurrenceexpressedaspercentage
of the total studied samples - with a subdivi-
sioninthefourrelativefrequencyclasses‘very
3. RESULTS
frequent’,‘frequent’,‘rare’and‘sporadic’-is
giveninFigure2.
3.1. Quantitativemelissopalynological
analysis
3.3. Unifloralhoneys
AsillustratedinTableIthePG/10gforall From melissopalynological and physico-
samplesrangedfrom2.1×103to1.12×106.In chemical data and from sensorial analysis
514 C.Makhloufietal.
Eucalyptus spp.
Olea europaea*
Papaver rhoeas*
Pimpinella anisum
Carduus f.
Hedysarum coronarium
Echium plantagineum
Rubus f.
Trifolium repens gr.
Cistus*
Trifolium pratense gr.
Daucus carota
Brassicaceae
Centaurea J f.
Citrus
Convolvulus arvensis
Brassica
Asteraceae T f.
Lotus corniculatus gr.
Thymus
Apiacées
Eryngium
Acacia
Vicia
Asteraceae liguliflore
Very frequent
Borago
Frequent
Arctium
Poaceae* Rare
Palmae* Sporadic
Aster
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage samples
Figure2. Pollen occurrence of the main thirtypollen types expressed as percentage of the total studied
samples -withasubdivision inthefour relativefrequency classes ‘veryfrequent’, ‘frequent’, ‘rare’ and
‘sporadic’.*=nectarlessspecies.
18 honeyscouldbe classified for sure as uni- comparedwiththeotherregions(F = 12.410,
floral: honey obtained from Eucalyptus spp. P=0.000).Correlationanalysisshowedalin-
(14 samples), Citrus spp. (two), Helianthus ear positive relationship between the diastase
annuus(one)andRosmarinusofficinalis(one). and invertase activity and a negativebetween
diastase and HMF and between invertase and
HMFasisillustratedinTableIV.
3.4. Physico-chemicalandstatistical
analyses
4. DISCUSSION
The mean value, the range and the stan-
4.1. Quantitativemelissopalynological
dard deviation (s.d.) of the physico-chemical
analysis
parametersaregiveninTablesIIandIII.
With ANOVA analysis only for the region The observed pollen distribution is quite
south a striking difference was found in pH normal for Mediterranean honey (Persano
CharacterizationofAlgerianhoneys 515
TableII.Physico-chemicaldataformultifloralandsomeunifloralhoneysfromAlgeria.
Parameter Multifloral Eucalyptus Citrus
n=48 n=14 n=2
Water(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 16.5±1.6 16.5±1.7 16.8±0.3
Range 14.0–20.2 14.0–19.8 16.6–17.0
pH
Mean±s.d. 3.93±0.45 4.00±0.20 4.00±0.10
Range 3.40–6.23 3.70–4.30 3.90–4.10
El.conductivity(mS/cm)
Mean±s.d. 0.55±0.18 0.60±0.20 0.40±0.20
Range 0.11–0.93 0.10–0.90 0.30–0.50
Diastasenumber
Mean±s.d 18.0±9.29 15.9±6.89 8.0±1.41
Range 4.0–40.0 8.0–30.0 7.0–9.0
Invertasenumber
Mean±s.d 7.90±4.76 9.64±6.06 2.5±0.71
Range 0–17.00 1.0–20.0 2.0–3.0
HMF(mgkg−1)
Mean±s.d 17.18±18.42 25.63±27.24 3.11±1.31
Range 0.50–123.98 5.84–110.70 2.18–4.03
PG/10g(×1000)
Mean±s.d. 112.1±226.2 56.9±47.6 11.9±2.8
Range 2.1–1120.4 15.5–148.2 9.9–13.9
Oddo and Piro, 2004) and also corresponded 4.2. Qualitativemelissopalynological
withtheresultsofanearlierunpublishedstudy analysis
ofoneoftheauthors(CM)onthepollenrich-
ness of 50 Algerian honeys in which the val- In the majority of the samples pollenfrom
ues for the PG/10 g for the classes I, II and Eucalyptus species (77%), Olea europaea
III were respectively 28%, 56%, and 16%. (olive tree) (71%), Papaver rhoeas (corn
Ouchemoukhetal.(2007)foundintheirstudy or field poppy) (62%), Pimpinella anisum
of11AlgeriansampleslowerPG/10gvalues, (aniseed), (61%), a cultivated herb and Car-
rangingfrom20×103till40×103.Theirsam- duus sp. (thistle) (59%) were present, while
ples were collected in various regions of the Hedysarumcoronariumwasidentifiedin50%
province Bejaia, situated along the Mediter- of the collected samples. Eucalyptus spp. as
raneancoast.Howevermanyfactorsinfluence well as H. coronarium are very characteristic
thenumberofpolleninhoney.Itisknownthat plant species and good nectar sources, found
the pollen richness depends upon the pollen throughout Algeria. Honeys from H. coro-
production of the plant, the weather condi- narium are also found in Italy (Ricciardelli
tions,thedistanceofthebeehivetotheflower d’Albore, 1998). The characteristic O. euro-
field, the filtering by the bee’s proventriculus pea and P. rhoeas are no nectar suppliers but
and consequently the pollen’s diameter, and aregoodpollensourcesforthebees.
the mode of honey extraction (Von der Ohe, Pimpinella anisum pollen were frequently
1994). If honey is harvested by pressing the encountered in the honey samples from the
combs the amount of pollen usually exceeds centre region. As this plant is a good nec-
106 pollen in 10 g, due to the presence of tariferous species, it plays an important role
stored pollen for bee nutrition. In that case in apiculture throughout north Africa and al-
pollenanalysisisofnouseindeterminingthe ready Louveaux and Abed (1984) noted that
botanicaloriginoftheproduct. pollen of the Apiaceae family were abundant
516 C.Makhloufietal.
TableIII.SugarspectrumformultifloralandsomeunifloralhoneysfromAlgeria.
Parameter Multifloral Eucalyptus Citrus
n=48 n=14 n=2
Glucose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 28.96±2.91 29.70±2.94 27.00±2.05
Range 21.20–35.20 24.20–34.00 25.50–28.40
Fructose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 41.82±3.55 42.10±3.31 41.20±2.33
Range 34.00–49.10 34.20–47.60 39.50–42.80
Sucrose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 1.15±1.06 1.10±0.50 0.50±0.70
Range 0–4.30 0.40–2.10 0–1.00
Maltose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 1.60±0.89 1.70±0.60 1.40±0.50
Range 0–5.40 0.70–2.60 1.00–1.70
Isomaltose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 1.12±0.87 0.70±0.40 1.10±0.20
Range 0–4.80 0.20–1.80 0.90–1.20
Melibiose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 0.01±0.06 0 0
Range 0–0.40 0 0
Turanose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 1.28±0.88 1.00±0.60 0.80±0.20
Range 0–3.70 0–2.10 0.60–0.90
Trehalose(%m/m)
Mean±s.d. 0.01±0.04 0±0.10 0
Range 0–0.20 0–0.20 0
Melicitose
Mean±s.d. 0.04±0.12 0.10±0.10 0
Range 0–0.50 0–0.40 0
Raffinose
Mean±s.d. 0.08±0.17 0.20±0.50 0
Range 0–0.90 0–1.70 0
Erlose
Mean±s.d. 0.49±0.74 0.20±0.30 0.30±0.40
Range 0–3.70 0–0.60 0–0.50
Fructose+glucose
Mean±s.d. 70.8±5.05 71.8±4.76 68.1±0.28
Range 55.2–79.8 60.8–78.8 67.9–68.3
in honeys from this region. They only iden- ofthismemberoftheApiaceaefamilyinMo-
tified this pollen type to family level and not roccan honey (Damblon, 1987, 1988; Terrab
to a specific genus or species. Eastward from etal.,2003a–d).
Algeria, in Tunisia, the occurrence of Api- As illustrated in Figure 2 other pollen
aceae pollen of the Pimpinella group in lo- species characteristic for the Algerian honey
cal honey was already reported by Vorwohl samples were: Echium plantagineum(Viper’s
(1973),togetherwithpollenfromAcaciaspp, Bugloss),Trifoliumspp.,Rubussp.andCistus
Papaver, Olea, Myrtaceae and Cistus spp. sp.(rockrose).Infacttheywererepresentedin
Also in Turkey monofloral Pimpinella hon- approximately 40% of the honeys and some-
eys are known (Ricciardelli d’Albore, 1998). timesreachedthelevelofpredominantpollen.
However,morewestward,nomentionismade Of the cultivated crops, the genera Brassica
CharacterizationofAlgerianhoneys 517
TableIV.Correlationcoefficientsofsomephysico- Table V. Main honey producing plants in four re-
chemicalparameters. gionsofAlgeria.Numberofhoneysamplesineach
regionwithprimaryandsecondarypollenofnectar-
Parameter1 Parameter2 Correlation Probability iferousplantsexpressedaspercentageofthestudied
coefficient samplesinthespecificregion.
Diastase HMF –0.32 P<0.05
Invertase HMF –0.47 P<0.05 Nectariferousplant West Centre East South
Diastase Invertase 0.47 P<0.05 species % % % %
Eucalyptusspp. 35 41 50
Pimpinellaanisum 25 23
and Citrus, the latter especially cultivated in Hedysarum coronar- 15 18 38
coastalareas,werefoundinabout30%ofthe ium
Citrusspp. 10 3
samplesandthespeciesHelianthusannuusoc-
Daucuscarota 5 9
curred in more than 10% of the honeys. As
Echiumplantagineum 12 25
far as the main pollen species are concerned
Cloverspp. 5 9 37
our results are in agreement with Louveaux Rubussp. 3 25
and Abed (1984), Chefrour et al. (2007) and Viciasp. 5
Ouchemoukhetal.(2007). Astersp. 5
The most important plants for the honey Centaureasp. 3
flowwerederivedfromTableIbycountingin Scillabifolia 3
Helianthusannuus 12
each ofthe fourregionsthe numberof honey
Onosissp. 12
sampleswithprimaryandsecondarypollenof
Rosmarinus
nectariferousplants.Theresultsareexpressed officinalis 12
as percentage of the studied samples in the Tamarixsp. 25
specific region and shown in Table V. Espe- Eryngiumsp. 3
ciallythecentreregionisrichinplantswhich
supplyappreciableamountsofhoney.Inthree
regions (west, centre and south), Hedysarum
coronarium, clover and Eucalyptus spp. con-
Also Louveauxand Abed (1984) observed
tribute to a considerable extent to the honey
that Eucalypt was one of the most impor-
yield, Daucus carota and Pimpinella anisum
tant bee plants in Algeria. It was likewise
aremoreconfinedtotheregionswestencentre
noticed that its pollen plays a predominant
andEchiumplantagineumtocentreandeast.
roleinhoneyfromTunisia(unpublishedstudy
by CM) and Terrab et al. (2003a) con-
4.3. Unifloralhoneys cluded that unifloral honeys from Eucalyp-
tus camaldulensis Dehnh are very common
4.3.1. Eucalyptus honey in north Morocco. They mentioned Plantago
sp.andThymelaceaepollenasaccompanying
It is known that eucalypt pollen is over-
flora,whileRicciardellid’AlboreandVorwohl
represented in honey. However fourteen of
(1980) found species of Acacia, Gleditsia
our samples could be considered as unifloral
andHedysarumcoronariumasaccompanying
Algerian eucalypt honeys because they con-
pollen for Libya. According to the same au-
tained more than 70% Eucalyptus pollen and
thors Tunisian eucalypt honeys were charac-
because their physico-chemical and sensorial
terized by species of Citrus and Acacia to-
properties were in accordance with the stan-
gether with Erica multiflora, Olea europaea,
dardsas describedby PersanoOddoand Piro
andHedysarumcoronariumasaccompanying
(2004). The most important accompanying
pollen. Spanish eucalypt honeys distinguish
pollen were Echium plantagineum, Olea eu-
themselves from other eucalypt honeys from
ropaea, Trifolium spp., Papaverrhoeas, Cen-
the western Mediterranean region by having
taureasp.andApiaceae.PG/10grangedfrom
Cytisus, Lotus, Salix, Rubus, Asteraceae and
5.7 × 103−148 × 103 with a mean value of
Scrophulariaceaespp.intheirpollenspectrum
56.9×103.
(Seijoetal.,2003).