Comparative Study and Analysis of Proximate Compositions and Some Mineral Contents in Natural and Artificial Honey from Ogun State, Nigeria

Use of honey is gaining ground worldwide as people are getting aware of the high nutritional values and beneficial health promoting effects of honey. This study was carried out in order to compare the proximate compositions and the mineral contents available in both natural honey and artificial honey obtained from some selected towns in Ijebu and Remo zones of Ogun State, Nigeria. The parameters were analyzed using standard methods of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 2005). From the results obtained, the proximate compositions (%) of the natural honey were - moisture content (17.85±0.74), carbohydrate (78.56±2.92), protein (2.43±0.23), fat (0.68±0.04), crude fiber (0.19±0.02), ash (0.29±0.05) while that of the artificial honey were moisture content (21.65±0.94), carbohydrate (76.25±2.67), protein (1.53±0.12), fat (0.30±0.07), crude fiber (0.12±0.01), ash (0.15±0.09). The natural honey compositions were generally better than those of the artificial honey compositions. This trend was also observed for the mineral contents – Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and other parameters such as pH, titratable acidity, electrical conductivity and total acidity analyzed.