Sensory attributes of native stingless bee honey (Plebeia molesta Puls, 1869): first approaches to the characterization and preference of local consumers

Abstract

The sensory quality of a food is related to its characteristics and the consumer?s ethno-social andidiosyncratic conditions. In this study, honeys from three different environments in the Chaco regionof Córdoba (Argentina) were described qualitatively and quantitatively by specialized evaluators andpeasants. Honeys with a wide diversity of sensory attributes were evidenced. The samples from Salinas Coast were characterized by high fluidity, those from Serrano Forest by quantity of crystals, and those from Plain Forest by the greatest persistence of taste. The rural population distinguished honey from Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758), Plebeia nov. sp. (Schwarz, 1938) and Plebeia molesta (Puls, 1869), and described them differentially. At the same time, the peasants used shared descriptors for P. molesta honeys of similar geographical origin, and consumers´preference was 87.5%. We conclude that the sensory components of P. molesta honeys allow their differentiation from the honeys of other melliferous insects and according to the environment of origin. Alsothat the selection of this product as a favorite could be modeled by idiosyncratic factors of the peasants, such as their place of residence and the medicinal properties they attribute to it. Finally, we integrate and discuss the present results with antecedents of this research within the framework of the Socio-ecological Maximization Theory, in an approach to better understand the interaction between local consumers and NSBs.