Palynological and geographical characterization of avocado honeys in Spain

Abstract

The present work refers to the pollen analysis of 12 avocado honey samples from Spain. The samples were directly provided by the beekeepers, all professionals. The quantitative analysis showed that nectar is the main honey source in the samples studied, and that most honeys have a medium presence of botanical elements (BE); one sample belong to Class I of Maurizio, seven to Class II and four belong to Class III. The qualitative analysis of the samples showed the presence of 56 taxa belonging to 36 families. The Spanish avocado honeys are characterised by their medium content in pollen grains (NPG; x̄ = 117000) and their low honeydew indicator elements content (HDE; x̄ = 6340). Echium plantagineum gr. and Genista f. (present in 90% of the samples), and Eucalyptus f., Olea europaea L., Mentha aquatica gr. and Reseda luteola gr. (present in 80% of the samples), could be mentioned among the characteristic accompanying species of this honey type. The avocado honeys from the Iberian Peninsula and from the Canary Islands can be differentiated by the presence of Asphalthium bituminosum Medic., Cardiospermum grandiflorum Sw., Phoenix canariensis Hort. ex Chabaud and Tropaeolum majus L. in the latter.