Throughout history, honey has been used for many different purposes and due to its medicinal properties, has been one of the products marketed by traders. The figure of the bee first appeared in drawings on rock with the history of humanity, then on statues, as a logo, on money or stamps, and also in movies. Beekeeping museums, which present the historical process of beekeeping, also reflect an important culture with their ancient hives, documents, beekeeping materials, and historical antiquities. The contribution of bees to the sustainability of natural life is very important and has a history of 100 million years. The importance of bees and their by-products is increasing day by day, and the demand for the beekeeping industry as alternative income determines the emergence of new products and activities. Based on its health properties, apitherapy is the basis of activities such as api-air and api-diet. In natural regions (i.e., mountainous areas, forests) where beekeeping is carried out, people’s tradition, food culture, and healthy lifestyle attract society’s attention. In this context, api-tourist activity appears as a new phenomenon. In this article, the existing literature was scanned to create a resource about these new fields triggered by the beekeeping sector.

The employment of natural substances such as beehive products with a preventive and therapeutic purpose has been a widespread custom since ancient times. In this investigation, the antibacterial activity of 41 honey samples from different Ukraine regions has been evaluated. For each honey, melissopalynological and physico-chemical analysis were performed in order to determine botanical origin, pH, glucose and fructose contents and free acidity. So, antibacterial activity against Staphylococcusaureus CCM 4223, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium CCM 3807 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 was assessed through the determination of MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) and MBC (Minimum Bactericidal Concentration) values by the microdilutions method. The results show that the most susceptible bacterial strain was L. monocytogenes. Its growth was inhibited at a honey concentration ranging from 0.094 to 0.188 g/mL. The most resistant bacterial strain was S. aureus. As concerns MBC values, L. monocytogenes was the most susceptible bacteria, while S. aureus was the most resistant. Helianthus spp. honeys was the most effective against all tested bacterial strains, followed by Robinia spp. and multifloral honeys. Promising results for MIC tests have been found for Brassica spp.

The demand for monofloral, original, and special (functional) kinds of honey, or those with geographical indication, is forecast. At the same time, there is a need to improve the methods for determining the botanical and geographical origin of honey. The purpose of the research was to select and apply a variety of techniques for identifying the botanical origin of honey for its correspondence to acacia species. Samples of honey from the Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro regions extracted in the spring and summer period were used in the research. Organoleptic, physicochemical, NMR spectrometry, and advanced melissopalynology methods were applied. The tests were carried out at the laboratories of the Department of Certification and Standardization of Agricultural Products, NULES, Ukraine; the Ukrainian Laboratory of Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products; and the Bruker BioSpin GmbH company (Germany). According to the research results, the requirements for acacia honey were met by the organoleptic method for samples B1 and B2; by the physicochemical method for A0 and A2; by NMR spectroscopy for not a single sample, all being assessed as polyfloral; and by pollen analysis for B1 and B2. The conducted studies confirm the need for a comprehensive approach to the identification of the botanical origin of honey for its conformity to acacia species. There is a need to review the physicochemical indicators for the compliance of honey with the acacia species obtained in Ukraine. After all, even the modern NMR spectrometry technique indicated that the specially fabricated sample that did not contain acacia pollen grains was acacia honey. Identification of the botanical origin of monofloral honey, in particular acacia, should be carried out in the following sequence: pollen analysis (by dominant pollen grains), safety (presence of antibiotics, pesticides), physicochemical parameters according to international requirements, organoleptic parameters.

Homogenization is a necessary process in the production of drinking milk and most dairy products. The specific energy consumption of the most common valve homogenizers reaches 8 kW h.t-1. A promising way to reduce it is the introduction of more effective counter-jet homogenizers. The purpose of these studies is to increase the efficiency of machines of this type through fuller use of their kinetic energy. To achieve this, the design of a ring reflector was developed and experimental studies were carried out to determine its influence on the efficiency of milk fat dispersion in a counter-jet homogenizer. Calculations were made to determine the reflector’s design parameters. An installation for experimental research has been developed, in which the required milk pressure is created with the help of compressed carbon dioxide. The dispersive indices of the milk emulsion were determined by computer analysis of milk sample micrographs obtained with an optical microscope and a digital camera using Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Visual Studio C# software using the OpenCV Sharp library. As a result of research, the formula for defining the angle of the reflector top has been determined analytically. Experimental studies proved its validity and allowed determination of the optimal diameter. A comparison of the dependence of the degree of homogenization on the excess pressure in a counter-jet homogenizer proves a 15 – 20% increase in the degree of dispersion when using a reflector. At the same time, specific energy consumption does not increase. Comparison of the distribution curves of milk fat globules by size after counter-jet homogenization and homogenization with a reflector suggests that the average diameter of fat globules for the experimental method decreases from 0.99 to 0.83 μm. This indicates the high quality of the dispersal characteristics of the milk emulsion after processing in a counter-jet homogenizer with a reflector.

The pollen spectrum of honey reflects the regional crops, forest plantations, all the diversity of the plant species near the apiary. That is why the use, adaptation, and improvement of various methods of pollen analysis and interpretation of its results are topical questions in the countries which produce original varieties of honey on the international market. Ukraine is a leader in manufacturing and exporting honey in Europe and worldwide. Usually, Ukrainian honey is exported not as a finished food product, but as a raw material. This is because the pollen spectrum of Ukrainian honeys is provided with no description characterising their botanical and geographical origin, which, in turn, is because there are no pollen analysis methods implemented in production laboratories. The purpose of this study was improving the pollen analysis method to identify the botanical origin of Ukrainian honeys. The research was conducted in the laboratory of the Department of Standardisation and Certification of Agricultural Products in the National University of Life and Environmental Science of Ukraine, and in the production laboratory of Ascania-Pack Company. The analysis of harmonised methods of melissopalynology and standardised pollen detection methods has allowed developing a botanical method of honey identification adapted to be introduced in Ukrainian laboratories. The method suggested is a complex of individual procedures, operations, and techniques. It has been detailed how to prepare solution to fix and stain pollen preparations obtained from honey. The method of preparing a suspension of pollen grains from honey has been improved: extra dissolution of crystals and a lower speed of the centrifuge reduce the time of making the preparation and improve its quality. The method of obtaining preparations of pollen grains from honey has been adapted to harmonised international melissopalynological methods. New methods have been developed to count pollen grains in prepared monofloral and polyfloral honey samples. It has been detailed how to identify step-by- step the botanical origin of honey by pollen grains using international databases. The method has been implemented in the production laboratories of leading enterprises in Ukraine and Belarus.

Homogenization, which is used in the technological schemes of production of most dairy products, is the most energy-intensive of the processes of mechanical processing of milk. One promising way to increase the energy efficiency of homogenization is to use separate homogenization and to use a little-researched stream homogenizer with separate cream feeding. The principle of its action is to pre-divide milk into cream and skim milk, and feed the fat phase with a thin stream into the stream of skim milk. This creates the conditions for achieving the high value of the Weber criterion - the main factor in the dispersion of milk fat. The purpose of these researches is to conduct experimental studies and determine the energy consumption and quality of homogenization of milk after treatment in a stream homogenizer. To achieve this goal, a designed experimental setup was used. The dispersive indices of the milk emulsion were determined by computer analysis of micrographs of milk samples obtained with an optical microscope and a digital camera using Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Visual Studio C # software using the OpenCV Sharp library. As a result of experimental studies, the critical value of the Weber criterion for homogenization of milk was determined, which is 28. The regularities of dispersion of milk fat in a stream homogenizer with separate feeding of the fat phase have been established. It is determined that the milk treatment in the experimental homogenizer allows us to achieve an emulsion with an average size of fat globules of about 0.8 μm (at the level of valve homogenizers). The value of the homogenization coefficient is obtained for the disruption of the fat globule in the conditions: subject to a single effect on the emulsion, without the influence of vibration and cavitation. This homogenization coefficient equals 3300 m3/2.s-1.