HAYATI Journal of Biosciences
Vol. 33 No. 2 (2026): March 2026

Bacterial Community in Apis cerana and Heterotrigona itama Honey Using a Metabarcoding Approach

Nurjanah, Nurjanah (Unknown)
Raffiudin, Rika (Unknown)
Lestari, Yulin (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
07 Nov 2025

Abstract

Honey is a healthy, natural product with high nutritional value that is converted from sugar in nectar by bacteria in the honey stomach of the bees. Several beneficial bacteria in honey produce bioactive compounds, such as Lactobacillus in Apis mellifera honey, which synthesizes lactic acid, bacteriocins, and enzymes. Here, we employed the metabarcoding technique using the 16S rRNA gene to identify the bacterial community in honey from A. cerana and Heterotrigona itama collected in Sukabumi Regency, West Java, Indonesia. Genomic DNA from both honey samples was isolated using the ZymoBIOMICSTM DNA miniprep kit before sequencing with the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) platform. Our studies showed that the most dominant bacteria in the honey of A. cerana and H. itama were Paenibacillus glucanolyticus and Limosilactobacillus, respectively. In both types of honey, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were also detected, as well as lactic acid bacteria, including Acetilactobacillus jinshanensis and Limosilactobacillus. We also found Actinobacteria in A. cerana and H. itama honey. This genomic data showed that A. cerana honey has a higher bacterial diversity than H. itama. Our finding is the first genomic study of bacterial diversity found in the honey of A. cerana and H. itama that live sympatrically in a bee farm.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

hayati

Publisher

Subject

Agriculture, Biological Sciences & Forestry Earth & Planetary Sciences

Description

HAYATI Journal of Biosciences (HAYATI J Biosci) publishes articles and short communication in tropical bioscience fields such as development, biotechnology, biodiversity and environmental issues. HAYATI J Biosci covers wide range of all life forms topics including virus, microbes, fungi, plants, ...