PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND MELISSOPALYNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL BUCKWHEAT HONEYS FROM POLAND

Buckwheat honey is widely consumed by consumers due to its numerous health-promoting properties. Characteristically it is dark, tea-like in colour, sharp, tickly, and sweet in flavour, and has smelled of buckwheat flowers. In the current study, various commercial honey samples were examined to test the quality of buckwheat honey samples available in the market. The research materials were comprised of 15 samples of honeys from 4 voivodships, among these, 5 samples were collected from the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship, 4 from the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, 4 from the Lubelskie Voivodship, and reset 2 samples from the Podkarpackie Voivodship. Melissopalynological analyses of investigated honeys’ samples revealed that all samples had at least 45% of Fagopyrym pollen content, which means that researched honeys complied with the standards of the International Commission for Bee Botany (ICBB) for buckwheat honey. Honeys’ samples had an average water content of 15.3% (σ= 1.24), and electrical conductivity at 0.37 mS*cm-1. Therefore, all beekeepers correctly marked their honey type as buckwheat honey simply using the organoleptic properties of their honeys and observing their bees collecting pollen and honeydew.

The pollen spectrum of honeys of Lipnik Gmina (Świętokrzyskie Province)

During 2003 and 2004 apicultural seasons, 25 samples of honeys were collected in 10 localities of Lipnik (świętokrzyskie Province) countryside. Pollen analysis was made according to the requirements of the International Commission for Bee Botany IUSB (Louveaux et al., 1978). There were identified pollen of 85 taxa in the examined samples of honeys: pollen of 62 nectariferous and 23 non-nectariferous plants. Participation of non-nectariferous plant pollen in particular samples ranged between 0.3 and 28.4%. Among the nectariferous plant pollen, the highest pollen frequency (above 50%) have been stated for Brassicaceae (with <i>Brassica napus</i>), <i>Prunus</i> type, <i>Trifolium repens</i>, <i>Anthriscus</i> type, <i>Salix</i>, <i>Aesculus</i>, <i>Rubus</i> type, <i>Tilia</i>, <i>Taraxacum</i> type, <i>Galeopsis</i> and <i>Heracleum</i> type, among non-nectariferous plans: <i>Poaceae</i>, <i>Papaver</i> and <i>Fragaria</i>. On average, a particular honey contained 16 pollen types of nectariferous plants (range 7-26) and 7 of non-nectariferous (range 1-13). Among the examined samples, there were 11 specific honeys: 7 compatible with the Polish Standard - 4 samples of <i>Brassica napus</i> honeys, 2 <i>Robinia pseudacacia</i>, 1 <i>Tilia</i>, and 4 samples of honeys out of his this standard. There were 3 <i>Galeopsis</i> honeys and 1 honey from <i>Phacelia</i>. The remaining 14 samples were classified as multifloral honeys compatible with the Polish Standard. The woods and scrubs as well as meadows and pastures supplied main sources of honeybee flow in the examined area.