Mineral content in honey and pollen from native stingless bees Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) in the Iron Quadrangle, Brazil.

Abstract

The objective of this work was to determine the mineral content of honey and pollen of the Brazilian native Jata ı bee (Tetragonisca angustula) sampled at nine sites in the so-called Iron Quadrangle region of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Twenty chemical elements were determined in the honey and pollen samples: Al, Ba, Ca, Co, Cu, Fe, Ga, In, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, S, Sr, V, and Zn. Analysis of the data using ANOVA and Tukey’s test (p ¼ .05) revealed statistically significant differences between the mineral contents of honey and pollen, as well as between the samples from different locations. The score plot and loading plot diagrams from factor analysis with Varimax rotation were able to classify the honey and pollen samples according to their geographical origin. The factor analysis separated the sites according to the similarities of the chemical concentrations. These results were related to the geogenic and anthropic contributions of the sites. Therefore, honey and pollen of Jata ı bees could also serve as bioindicators.