Comparative analysis of physicochemical properties of traditional honey from Apis mellifera and Apis dorsata with commercial honey in Nagrota Bagwan, Himachal Pradesh

Honey is a pure, natural liquid blend primarily composed of sugars like glucose and fructose, along with proteins, enzymes, phenolic compounds, amino acids, vitamins, ascorbic acids, organic acids, and various minerals such as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and sodium. Due to its balanced nutritional composition, honey is considered a complete meal and is commonly used as a sweetener and flavoring agent in beverages. Therapeutically, honey effectively treats various wounds, including pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, infected wounds from surgeries or injuries, and burns. The present aim is to compare the analysis of the physiochemical properties of traditional honey from Apis mellifera and Apis dorsata with commercial honey in Nagrota Bagwan, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. All procedures for the present study were conducted according to the standard protocol of the Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 4941:1994. In the observed samples of honey, the highest observed pH value, total reducing sugars and fructose-glucose ratio were recorded in commercial honey at 4.03±0.15, 74.84±0.17 g/100 g and 1.93±0.01 g/100 g, respectively. The highest observed specific gravity, moisture, ash content and acidity were recorded in A. dorsata as 1.43±0.15 g/cm, 23.81±0.06 g/100 g, 0.40±0.26% and 0.067±0.02 mEqkg-¹, respectively. The highest observed sucrose was recorded in A. mellifera 1.03±0.06 g/100g. In conclusion, all samples adhered to the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s standards for honey, indicating their high quality and compliance with international benchmarks. The results demonstrated that the honey samples had desirable physicochemical properties and met the freshness index criteria. These findings suggest that both traditional and commercial honey samples have good storage quality and are suitable for marketing, offering consumers high-quality honey options.