Honey is a product that presents antimicrobial activity attributed to physical and chemical factors. Even so, it is still possible to find many microorganisms present in this product, which can be used as quality indicators. The objective of this work was to evaluate the microbiologic quality of the honey produced by stingless bee species from the State of Bahia, Brazil. Fourteen samples of honey were evaluated for the moisture content, water activity, standard counting of moulds and yeasts, and presence of microorganisms of coliform group. A total of 50.0% of the samples presented standard counting of moulds and yeasts above the maximum value permmited by the Brazilian food legislation. This disqualification of samples asseptically harvested indicates the need of identification of this microbiota and its possible natural occurrence in the honey produced by this group of bees. None of the samples was disqualified regarding the counting of microorganisms of the coliform group.
water activity; moulds and yeasts; coliform; microbiological quality control; stingless bee honey
