ANÁLISIS PALINOLÓGICO DE LA MIEL DE Apis mellifera L., PRODUCIDA EN EL ALTIPLANO DEL ESTADO DE PUEBLA, MÉXICO

Abstract

A palynology study was carried out with the objective of analyzing honey from Apis mellifera L., produced in the high plateau region of the
state of Puebla and defining its botanical origin, indexes of diversity and equity, foraging habit, and plant stratum of importance, for which nine
samples were collected directly from the honey sedimentation tanks, as well as flowers in the proximity of apiaries in seven municipalities of that
region. The pollen grains contained in 10 g of honey in each sample were extracted through centrifugation, treated by acetolysis and mounted on
glycated gel. Fifty-one (51) pollen types were found, of which only four are considered important, belonging to the species Brassica spp. and
Lopezia spp., to the family Asteraceae, and one unknown pollen type. The honeys were classified as monofloral from Asteraceae except the
one from San Salvador el Seco, which was considered multifloral with predominance of Asteraceae. The diversity index was in a range of 1.23
to 2.00, with a mean of 1.59±0.3 considered low in comparison to what is found in tropical zones. The equity index was placed between 0.46
and 0.76, with a mean of 0.58±0.1, which agrees with the exploitation of a reduced number of species. The important plant stratum was the
herbaceous, and only in one sample of pollen type was represented by more than 70 %, which determines a polylectic foraging habit with
strong preference for the Asteraceae family.