Marmeleiro - Brazilian Quince Honey

Buy Marmeleiro - Brazilian Quince Honey

• Color

Straw-like, yellow gold.

 

• Aroma

Floral, slightly fruity

 

• Taste

Citrus fruity, tangerine jam, waxy

 

• Primary Taste

Sweet

 

• Texture

Velvety, thick consistency

 

• Finish

Medium finish with a waxy undercurrent

 

• Harvest season

Beginning/middle of rain season January, February 

 

 Caatinga after the rain. Many plants take advantage of the rains which occur in mid summer.

 

• Biome: Caatinga – Brazilian Desert

Caatinga is an ecoregion characterized by desert vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. It covers 10% of brazil’s surface, an area 20% bigger than Texas. The Caatinga is a very dry place in Brazil, with frequent droughts that can last up to 7 months. There are only two distinguishable seasons. These are the winter, when it is hot and dry, and the summer when it is very hot and little rain can be seen from January to April.

  Dry Caatinga. Rough environment does not provide many opportunities to those who live there.

• People

Around 26 million people live in the Caatinga region, and are regarded as belonging to the poorest inhabitants of Brazil. A very large part of the population depends on agricultural or forest industries for over half of their income. There are few drinkable water sources, and harvesting is difficult because of the irregular rainfall.

 

• Curiosities about the plant and importance of beekeeping

After the first rains in the caatinga, the Marmeleiro in the first to bloom. Their small, white flower are very fragrant. Many insects like wasps, moths, flies and, mainly, native bees visit their flowers to collect pollen and nectar. The nectar of the Marmeleiro flowers is responsible for the production of a honey with a very appreciated taste and with a high commercial value for the beekeepers of the northeast, being one of the main sources of nectar of the caatinga. These characteristics favor the use of this species in places where native stingless bees are bred and kept. Due to its great capacity for regrowth and its rapid growth, the quince tree is a potential species for restoration of degraded areas.

 

• Environmental issues

The Caatinga is poorly represented in the Brazilian Conservation Area network, with only 1% in Integral Protection Conservation Areas and 6% in Sustainable Use Conservation Areas.

Big dams have brought an end to the high tides in the rainy season, which used to spread fertile mud over the fields creating a rich ground that could be used for agriculture during the dry season. Salinization of the soil is becoming a threat since large areas of the land are irrigated with saline water, thus sterilizing the soil.

Intensive agriculture, along with excessive grazing by cattle and goats, is affecting the population structure of some important plant and animal species. Deforesting for industrial uses like fuel and charcoal destroys the vegetation. The combination of drought and misuse of the land is becoming a major threat.

 

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