Características físico-químicas e sensoriais de hidroméis produzidos a partir de mel silvestre ou mel de aroeira, utilizando ou não pólen apícola na sua fabricação

Abstract

Mead is a fermented drink whose essential ingredients are honey, water and yeast, being considered as the first alcoholic drink of humanity. Its production is mostly done by hand and due to its ease of production it can be a good alternative for beekeepers to increase their earnings. The present study aimed to evaluate the use of wild honey and aroeira honey, with or without the addition of bee pollen, to produce mead. The following treatments were used: T1- aroeira honey, T2- aroeira honey added with 30g/L of pollen, T3- wild honey and T4- wild honey added with 30g/L of pollen. The honeys and pollen used in the experiment were first evaluated for the legal standards of Brazilian legislation. The fermentation was carried out at an average temperature of 20ºC, having periodically evaluated ºBrix, weight loss and number of CFU/mL. After fermentation, the obtained meads were submitted to physical-chemical analyzes (fixed acidity, total acidity, volatile acidity, ash, total chlorides, reduced dry extract, alcoholic content) and sensory (acceptance tests of hedonic scale, attitude scale, and preference ordering test). The results found indicated that the meads that had their must supplemented with pollen (T2 and T4) had a more pronounced fermentation at the beginning and shorter time to complete the process, in addition to resulting in meads with higher alcohol levels and lower values of ºBrix. Analyzing the produced meads, it is concluded that the T3 and T4 treatments did not meet the current Brazilian legislation for the volatile acidity parameter, presenting values slightly above those allowed, and the meads produced from the T1 and T3 treatments presented values of ashes below the minimum levels. In the sensory evaluation, the results found in the affective acceptance tests of the hedonic scale and attitude scale indicated a consumer preference (P <0.05) for the mead obtained from wild honey without the addition of pollen (T3), followed by aroeira honey without pollen (T1). Regarding the color parameter, the meads that obtained the best evaluation in the affective preference test by ordering were those produced from aroeira honey (T1 and T2). It can be concluded, therefore, that although pollen can be used as a supplement to improve fermentation, there is a preference for meads produced without pollen supplementation, where the mead produced with wild honey (T3) was significantly superior to the others in the evaluation of flavor, hedonic scale of acceptance and buying attitude.