Karakteristik Fisik Madu dari Lebah Apis melifera, Apis dorsata, Apis cerana dan Trigona spp.

Abstract

Characteristics of honey in tropical region of Indonesia are certainly different from other countries with different climates. The aimed of this study was to analyse the physical performance of Indonesian honey which produced by different species of bees. Honey samples were taken from 4 different species of bees consist of Apis melifera, A. dorsata, A. cerana and Trigona spp. with 5 replication for each species. The observed physical characteristics consist of color, specific gravity or density, turbidity, pH, water activity, and viscosity. The results showed that the bees’s species greatly affect the turbidity, water activity (P<0.01) of honey. Other physical characteristics can be used as standard of physical quality of honey with color value of L 53.08, a 8.77 and b 18.34, density 1.3 and pH value 3.91. The water activity can be used as standard by taking into account the differences between honey produced by Trigona spp. (0.73) and of Apis spp. (0.63-0.66).