The Physicochemical Parameters, Phenolic Content, and Antioxidant Activity of Honey from Stingless Bees and : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The most common bee species used for honey production is (), followed by stingless bees. This study included scientific articles using the PRISMA approach. A random effect model was implemented and the effect size (ES) was calculated and reported as the standardized mean difference (SMD) and raw mean difference (RMD). The mean phenolic content in honey was 61.21 ± 28.3 mg GAE/100 g and stingless bee honey +33.69 mg GAE/100 g; = 0.01. The antioxidant activity, discovered by the Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) method, showed a mean of 97.34 ± 7.84 μmol Fe(II)/100 g in and stingless bee honey +63.39 μmol Fe(II)/100 g; = 0.009. The physicochemical properties showed significant differences in moisture ( honey 19.54 ± 3.65%; stingless bee honey +8.02%; = 0.0001), hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) ( honey 20.14 ± 16.27 mg/kg; stingless bee honey -11.25 mg/kg; = 0.001), and free acidity ( honey 31.32 ± 16.67 meq/kg; stingless bee honey +34.76 meq/kg; = 0.01). The variability in the trials was explained by the heterogeneity, and a meta-regression analysis incorporated four covariates: (1) stingless bee species; (2) floral source; (3) country, and (4) latitude. This study highlights the importance of conducting further studies on stingless bee honey.