Stevioside content in stingless bee (Heterotrigona itama) honey in Stevia farming
Shamsul Bahri Abd Razak*, Azmi Ismun, Siti Asma Samsuddin
Apis and Meliponine Research Group, Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
Abstract
A study on the efficacy of stingless bee (Heterotrigona itama) rearing in Stevia rebaudiana farming was conducted at Pusat Tunas Stevia (PTS), Kampung Tempinis, Jabi, Terengganu from January until December 2015. Integration honey of stingless bee and stevia is a new approach in honey industry. Stingless bee colonies were placed in stevia farm so that, stingless bee roamed and visited for nectar collection naturally thus produced natural stevia stingless bee honey. The combination of honey and stevia which is high in nourishment is good for health with enhancement of its sweetness. The objective of this research was to produce the designer stingless bee honey that contained stevioside, a compound from stevia. Peak of stevioside was detected at retention time 1.383 via High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis and peaks with identical retention time found in samples. Stingless bees also foraged nectar from herb such as stevia plant by proving the stevioside content in stingless bee honey. In conclusion, this study can help the community to improve their lifestyle and income indirectly, by increase value of honey and can export to abroad and contribute a lot of benefits to many sectors in Malaysia such as stingless bee keeper and government to increase the economy of honey sector. Keywords: Stevia, Stingless bee, Stevioside, Kelulut, Terengganu
