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POLLEN ANALYSIS AND HEAVY METALS DETECTION IN HONEY SAMPLES FROM SEVEN SELECTED COUNTRIES

SADIA BIBI¹, SYED ZAHOOR HUSAIN¹ AND RIFFAT NASEEM MALIK²

Abstrac: Honey contains pollen grains derived from the foraging activity of honeybees that reflect the environmental location of the beehives. The variability of honey types produced in a region depends upon the diversity of nectar sources present in the region. Microscopic analysis of the pollen in honey was used to determine its geographical origin. This study describes a simplified method for determining the total amount of pollen grains and the relative frequencies of pollen from various plant sources in honey. In 7 commercially obtained honey samples from Austria, Pakistan, Canada, Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia and America. Pollen of plant species from 12 families: Brassicaceae, Sapindaceae, Cannabaceae, Convolvulaceae, Myrtaceae, Pinaceae, Cupressaceae, Asteraceae, Moraceae, Fabaceae, Corylaceae and Loranthaceae were identified. In addition to pollen identification, contamination due to heavy metals and their concentration in honey samples were also measured and the results are discussed in this paper.

¹Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
²Department of Plant Sciences, Quid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Corresponding author's E-mail: syed_zh@yahoo.com