Essential and Potentially Toxic Elements from Brazilian Geopropolis Produced by the Stingless Bee Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides Using ICP OES.

Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides is a species of stingless bee popularly known in Brazil as "mandaçaia". Products derived from bees for food and therapeutic uses, have stimulated the evaluation of the chemical composition of geopropolis. Concentrations of 24 essential and potentially toxic elements were determined in geopropolis samples, using a sequential optical emission spectrometer with inductively coupled plasma (ICP OES) after microwave-assisted acid digestion. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used to carry out an exploratory analysis of the samples. The following elements were quantified (in mg Kg-1): Al (320,414.40-36,911.1), As (