Determination of Physicochemical Properties and Toxic Heavy Metals Levels in Honey Samples from West of Libya

Abstract

Article history: Received 23 February 2019 Accepted 21 March 2019 Available online 16 April 2019 This study was done to investigate the physicochemical properties of bee honey samples collected from different locations in west of Libya. The concentration of essential elements (Na, K, and Ca), and toxic heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, and As) in honey samples were determined by flame photometer, and atomic absorption spectrometer. The results showed significant variation among the honey samples may be attributed to the plants floral types, which indicate that the mean values of moisture ranged from 20.6 to 25.1% was a slight higher than the Codex limit 20%, pH mean values 4.12 to 4.74, free acid equivalent 20 to 27 m eq./kg, total dissolved substance 646 to 994 ppm, and specific conductivity 638.5 to 1004 μS/cm. The mean values of minerals concentration in (mg/kg) such as potassium were ranged from 1120.1 to 1980.6, sodium 506.8 to 804.6, calcium 923.92 to 1117.5, lead 2.42 to 10.98, cadmium 0.125 to 0.150, mercury 0.021 to 0.10, and arsenic 0.006 to 0.018. The results revealed that the concentration of Hg and As in honey samples confine with the Codex range, on the other hand the study indicated that the concentration of Pb and Cd in honey confine with some international specifications and different with some others. The honey study may be useful for assessing the presence of environmental contaminants.