Current development and strategies against GMO-contamination in organic bee-keeping

Die Präsentationen geben einen Überblick über die Problematik der GVO-Kontamination bei ökologischem Honig. Sie wurden bei einer Veranstaltung auf der BioFach 2012 vorgestellt. Moderiert wurde die Veranstaltung von Salvador Garibay (FiBL Frick). Präsentiert wurden: - Ulrich Bröker: Current development and strategies against GMO-contamination in organic bee-keeping - Ulrich Bröker: Consequences of the European Court of Justice ECJ decision of Sept. 6th, 2011 on the zero tolerance to pollen from GMOs in bee products - Hanspeter Schmidt: Organic Honey and GMO 2012 (Biohonig und GVO 2012) - Walter Haefeker: Freedom of choice, coexistence and zero-tolerance - The application of the core principles of EU GMO legislation to bee products and services - Gudrun Beckh: Detection of pollen from GMO-plants in honey – Point of view from laboratory - Taurino Reyes Santiago: Consequences for organic beekeepers in countries of the south from the certification point of vie

Characterization of filtered honey by electrophoresis of enzyme fractions

According to both the European Council’s Honey Directive 2001/110/EC and the present Codex Aliminerius Honey Standard, filtration of honey is permitted. After this filtration process, the microscopic determination of the botanical and geographical origin of honeys is no longer possible since all the pollen has been removed. In many honey countries, there is a considerable difference in the price of honey depending on the botanical and geographical origin. There is the risk of fraud if expensive unfiltered honey is mixed with cheap filtered honey. In this research project, a method was developed that allows the detection of mixtures of filtered and unfiltered honey. Comparative tests showed that enzyme activities, mainly sucrase, were influenced by this process. The protein content did not decrease. Sucrase was isolated by gel chromatography and analysed by gel electrophoresis. One of the two dominating protein bands with 40 kDa and 65 kDa decreased significantly after filtration, which led to a shift in the natural ratio between them. The quantitative densitometric analysis of these two protein bands allows the detection of 15% added filtered honey

Impact of genus (Geotrigona, Melipona, Scaptotrigona) on the targeted 1H-NMR organic profile, and authenticity test by interphase emulsion of honey processed in cerumen pots by stingless bees in Ecuador

The biodiversity of Ecuadorian stingless bees is almost 200 species. Traditional pot-honey harvest in Ecuador is mostly done from nests of the three genera selected here Geotrigona Moure, 1943, Melipona Illiger, 1806, and Scaptotrigona Moure, 1942. The 20 pot-honey samples collected from cerumen pots and three ethnic honeys “abeja de tierra”, “bermejo”, and “cushillomishki” were analyzed for qualitative and quantitative targeted 1H-NMR honey profiling, and for the Honey Authenticity Test by Interphase Emulsion (HATIE). Extensive data of targeted organic compounds (41 parameters) were identified, quantified, and described. The three honey types were compared by ANOVA. Amino acids, ethanol, hydroxymethylfurfural, aliphatic organic acids, sugars, and markers of botanical origin. The number of phases observed with the HATIE were one in Scaptotrigona and three in Geotrigona and Melipona honeys. Acetic acid (19.60 ± 1.45 g/kg) and lactic acid (24.30 ± 1.65 g/kg) were particularly high in Geotrigona honey (in contrast to 1.3 g/kg acetic acid and 1.6 g/kg lactic acid in Melipona and Scaptotrigona), and with the lowest fructose + glucose (18.39 ± 1.68) g/100g honey compared to Melipona (52.87 ± 1.75) and Scaptotrigona (52.17 ± 0.60). Three local honeys were tested using PCA (Principal Component Analysis), two were assigned with a correct declared bee origin, but “bermejo” was not a Melipona and grouped with the Scaptotrigona cluster. However after HCA (Hierarchical Cluster Analysis) the three honeys were positioned in the Melipona-Scaptotrigona cluster. This research supports targeted 1H-NMR-based profiling of pot-honey metabolomics approach for multi-parameter visualization of organic compounds, as well as descriptive and pertained multivariate statistics (HCA and PCA) to discriminate the stingless bee genus in a set of Geotrigona, Melipona and Scaptotrigona honey types. The NMR characterization of Ecuadorian honey produced by stingless bees emphasizes the need for regulatory norms. A final note on stingless bee markers in pot-honey metabolites which should be screened for those that may extract phylogenetic signals from nutritional traits of honey. Scaptotrigona vitorum honey revealed biosurfactant activity in the HATIE, originating a fingerprint Honey Biosurfactant Test (HBT) for the genus in this set of pot-honeys

Chemical fingerprinting identifies <i>Echium vulgare, Eupatorium cannabinum</i> and <i>Senecio</i> spp. as plant species mainly responsible for pyrrolizidine alkaloids in bee-collected pollen

<p>Various studies have shown that bee-collected pollen sold as nutritional supplements may contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and, thus, pose a potential health risk for consumers. The level of contamination may vary according to its geographical and botanical origin. Here, the PA content of pollen produced in Switzerland was studied and 32 commercially available bee-collected pollen supplements produced between 2010 and 2014 were analysed. In addition, at what time period bees collect PA-containing pollen was investigated. Hence, this study looked into the occurrence of PAs in pollen samples collected daily during two-to-three consecutive seasons. Furthermore, the PA spectrum in pollen was compared to the spectrum found in flower heads of PA-plants to unambiguously identify plants responsible for PA contamination of pollen. The PA concentration of commercial and daily collected pollen was determined by target analysis using an HPLC-MS/MS system, allowing the detection of 18 different PAs and PA N-oxides found in the genera <i>Echium</i>, <i>Eupatorium</i> and <i>Senecio</i>, while the comparison of the PA spectrum in pollen and flower heads was performed by LC-HR-MS, allowing the detection of all PA types in a sample, including saturated, non-carcinogenic PAs. Of the commercially available pollen, 31% contained PAs with a mean concentration of 319 ng/g, mainly <i>Echium</i>- and <i>Eupatorium</i>-type PAs, while the PA concentrations were below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) in 69% of the pollen samples. Bees collected pollen containing <i>Echium</i>-type PAs mainly in June and July, while they gathered pollen containing <i>Eupatorium</i>-type PAs from mid-July to August. <i>Senecio</i>-type PAs appeared from June to September. Comparison of the PA array in pollen and plants identified <i>E. vulgare</i> and <i>E. cannabinum</i> as the main plants responsible for PA contamination of Swiss bee-collected pollen, and to a lesser extent also identified plants belonging to the genus <i>Senecio</i>.</p