Assessment of physicochemical, microbiological, mineral and heavy metal parameters of honey

The qualities of the honey were evaluated using the following attributes Physico-chemical, Microbiological, minerals and metallic contaminants respectively. The Physico-chemical analysis revealed a moisture content of 17.45%, Ash 0.64%, Total solid 81.25%, Fat 0.64%, Protein 0.25%, Fibre 0.03%, Total carbohydrate81.22%, Energy value of 329.5 Kcal, pH@24.2oC, Sucrose content 5.48%, Nitrogen content 0.004%, Total acidity 3.45%, Reducing sugar 61.82%, insoluble water content 0.06%, Refractive index of 1.477, and Specific gravity of 1.234 respectively. The microbiological analysis showed a total bacterial count TBC of 7x102 cfu/g, Yeast count 2x101cfu/g and Mould count 2x101cfu/g, which was within the national standards range by SON as 1x102 cfu/g, 5x101 cfu/g, and 5x101 cfu/g respectively while the Coliform count, Escherichia count, Salmonella count, Staphylococus count and Clostridium count were not detected this research. Generally, honey may contain organisms from bees, soil, air and dust that may be introduced during post-harvest handling. This is evidence that honey is well preserved against bacteria so that these organisms would not survive unfavourable conditions. The mineral analysis showed the presences of potassium{K), Calcium (Ca), Sodium (Na), Magnesium (Mg), Zink (Zn), Iron (Fe) Arsenic (As) respectively with values of 70.5, 21.0, 95.0,12.0, 1.3, 1.0, and 1.0 (Mg/100g) while Cupper and Lead were not detected.