Determination of chemical elements in africanized Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) honey samples from the State of Piauí, Brazil

Honey is a food used since the most remote times, appreciated for its characteristic flavor, considerable nutritional value and medicinal properties; however, little information exists about the presence of chemical elements in it. The objectives of this work were to determine the chemical elements...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Geni da Silva Sodré, Luís Carlos Marchini, Orgeda Luiza Araújo Domingues Zucchi, Virgilio Franco Nascimento Filho, Ivani Pozar Otsuk, Augusta Carolina de Camargo Carmello Moreti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2007-08-01
Series:Química Nova
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-40422007000400030
Description
Summary:Honey is a food used since the most remote times, appreciated for its characteristic flavor, considerable nutritional value and medicinal properties; however, little information exists about the presence of chemical elements in it. The objectives of this work were to determine the chemical elements present in 38 honey samples, collected directly from beekeepers from the State of Piauí, Brazil and to verify whether they presented any contamination. The chemical elements were determined by means of Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence. The means of three replicates were: K (109.671 ± 17.487), Ca (14.471 ± 3.8797), Ti (0.112 ± 0.07), Cr (0.196 ± 0.11), Mn (0.493 ± 0.103), Fe (1.722 ± 0.446), Co (0.038), Ni (0.728 ± 0.706), Cu (0.179 ± 0.0471), Zn (0.967 ± 0.653), Se (not detected), Br (not detected), Rb (0.371 ± 0.097), Sr (0.145 ± 0.45), Ba (11.681), Hg (not detected), and Pb (0.863) µg g-1.
ISSN:0100-4042
1678-7064