Site-associated variation in physicochemical properties and volatile profiles of Heterotrigona itama honey from West Sumatra, Indonesia

Setiawan RD, Melia S, Juliyarsi I, Rusdimansyah, Aulia HS. 2026. Site-associated variation in physicochemical properties and volatile profiles of Heterotrigona itama honey from West Sumatra, Indonesia. Asian J Nat Prod Biochem 24 (2): f240203. https://doi.org/10.13057/biofar/f240203. This study evaluated site-associated variation in the physicochemical properties and volatile profiles of Heterotrigona itama honey collected from three apiaries in West Sumatra, Indonesia: Padang Pariaman (PP), Universitas Andalas (UA), and Lima Puluh Kota (LPK). Three independent colonies were sampled from each apiary (n = 3 colonies per site). Moisture content, °Brix, pH, and free acidity were determined, while volatile organic compounds were analyzed by Head-Space Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HS-GC-MS). All physicochemical parameters differed significantly among the three sampled apiaries/sites (P<0.05). Moisture content ranged from 29.93-31.13%, °Brix from 67.63-68.87%, pH from 3.43-3.84, and free acidity from 64.67-238.57 meq/kg. Twenty-two volatile compounds were tentatively identified, representing 94.73%, 99.30%, and 95.35% of the total ion chromatogram peak area in PP, UA, and LPK, respectively. PP showed a high mean relative abundance of ethyl lactate, UA was characterized by linalool oxide derivatives, and LPK by p-methylanisole together with several aromatic compounds. Exploratory principal component analysis separated colony samples from the three sampled apiaries, with PC1 and PC2 explaining 55.0% and 43.7% of the total variance, respectively (98.7% cumulative). The results demonstrate preliminary site-associated physicochemical and volatile variation in H. itama honey. However, because a single apiary represented each site, broader geographical authentication requires independent multi-apiary, multi-season sampling and stronger confirmation of volatile-compound identities.