Accurate evaluation of sugar contents in stingless bee (Heterotrigona itama) honey using a swift scheme

Abstract

We propose a rapid scheme for the precise determination of the sugars content in 62 stingless bee (Heterotrigona itama) honeys harvested at diverse locations in Malaysia. This scheme combined Fourier transform infrared and attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) techniques with chemometric partial least square (PLS) regression analysis, wherein high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is used as reference technique. Results revealed that such honeys contained (per 100 g) high amount of maltose (9.74–54.3 g) and low quantity of fructose (5.37–19.9 g) as well as glucose (3.91–27.2 g). The first derivative data transformation in the wavenumber within 1500 to 750 cm−1 produced the optimum PLS prediction performance with corresponding R2 value over 0.976 and very low standard error of prediction (per 100 g) for fructose (0.562 g), glucose (0.855 g) and maltose (1.55 g). The results proved that the proposed scheme is potentially useful for fast and accurate quantification of sugars content in H. itama honeys.