Chemico-physical characteristics and quality of locally processed honey in Uganda: implications for local and international honey trade

摘要

ThegovernmentofUgandahasembarkedondevelopmentandpromotionofhoneyproductionasastrategyfordiversifyingexports.Throughoutthevaluechain,maintenanceofnaturalhoneyqualityisessentialforensuringawholesomeproductandfetchingpremiumpricesfromlocalandexportmarkets.Weassessedprocessedhoneysamplesfromsupermarketsandanopen-stallmarketinKampalaforgrosscontamination,moisturecontent,pHandpercentageashasdeterminatesofquality.MeanpHvaluesrangedbetween2.5%and4.3.Allsampleshadmoisturecontentabove20%whilepercentageashcontentrangedbetween0.08%and1.14%.nbsp;Therewerenosignificantdifferences(P0.05)inmeanpH(t=0.09),ash(t=0.76)andmoisture(t=-1.23)contentvaluesbetweenhoneysamplesfromthesupermarketsandthosefromtheopen-stallmarket.nbsp;Inconclusion,vendedhoneyinopen-stallconsumermarketsinUgandaisofpoorerqualityandgrosslycontaminatedthanthosesoldinthesupermarkets.Furthermore,mosthoneysoldinthesupermarketsandopen-stallmarketshavehighermoistureandlowerpHvaluesthanprescribedbyboththelocal(Ugandan)andinternationalregulatorystandards.Ugandamustenforcequalitystandardsatalllevelsofhoneyproduction,processingandmarketinginviewofattractinghigherpremiumforhoneyinbothlocalandinternationalmarkets.