**1. Introduction**

Beekeeping in Algeria is part of agricultural life. It is practiced in mountainous regions such as the Aures Mountains, Kabylie, and Dahra, in the coastal plains, and the valleys of the big wadis, but it is more intensive in the northern part of the country where the flora provides resources for honey throughout most of the year [1]. Beekeeping plays an important role in the rural areas of the Mediterranean region due to the suitable climatic conditions and high biodiversity. Highly valued honey supplies are a welcome income for farmers and hobby beekeepers [2].

The composition of this food, obtained by bees from nectar, honeydew, or both sugary resources, is highly dependent on honeybee activity and the biogeography of the area in which it was produced. So, physicochemical properties such as color, pH, electrical conductivity, sugar content, organic acids, ash content, polyphenols, flavonoids, and other phytochemicals differ with different environmental conditions and plant communities visited by honeybees [3].

The Mediterranean region of Algeria is an outstanding biogeographical crossroads that resulted from a complex history and highly heterogeneous environmental factors [4]. Algeria has significant plant biodiversity, with about 3150 species [5], of which more than 500 species are endemic and characteristic of the Mediterranean basin, the Atlas Mountains, the high steppe plateau, the large Saharan plateau, and the mountainous massifs of the Algerian Sahara [6]. The melliferous area in Algeria is estimated at 797,122 hectares with a predominance of forests and maquis, natural meadows, orchards with orange fruits, and other crops.

The main honey sources in the area are trees like *Eucalyptus* and some wild herbaceous plants, mainly from the *Apiaceae* (*Foeniculum*, *Daucus*, *Coriandrum*, *Eryngium*, *Pimpinella*), Asteraceae (*Galactites tomentosa*, *Centaurea*, *Echinops*), *Brassicaceae*(*Brassica* and *Sinapis*), and *Fabaceae*(*Hedysarum*, *Ononis natrix*, *Trifolium*, *Melilotus*) families [7–9]. Some plants, such as*Ziziphus lotus*, or grown plants, such as *Helianthus annuus* or *Citrus*, were also named as important plants sources for honey production [10]. In this context, the main honey types produced in the country are *Eucalyptus*, *Citrus*, forest (honeydew), jujube, sunflower, rosemary, and wild mustard. However, the production of other rare or less known honey types was mentioned in some papers [11,12].

The country is considered a traditional consumer of honey, but national production does not achieve self-su fficiency, so to cover the relevant needs, large quantities of honey are imported every year from countries such as China, India, and Saudi Arabia. The lack of national legislation and unknowns about Algerian honey characteristics have a negative impact on the scarce development of Algerian beekeeping. In the absence of specific legislation, there are also no requirements to assess the quality or geographical and botanical origin of honey in the market. Therefore, consumers and local producers are not protected against frauds, and honey of good quality is not valorized. Improving knowledge in the characteristics of local production is the main course of action for their valorization and to link agricultural products with the territory in which they were produced. These studies facilitate the recognition of specific properties with botanical origin and allow di fferentiating local production from imported honey. Currently, there is no designation of origin for local honey that would contribute to valorizing Algeria honey production.

Some authors studied the characteristics of honey produced in Algeria and found di ffering results as to the pollen content [8–10,13], physicochemical attributes and pollen profile of samples from di fferent areas [7,14–16], their botanical origin [9,11,17–19], antibacterial and antioxidant activity [20], or specific compounds such as sugars and phenolic or volatile compounds [21,22]. However, honey production in Algeria remains poorly studied. On the basis of these facts, this paper aimed to provide scientific information on the botanical origin and physicochemical profile of honey samples from di fferent bioclimatic areas of Algeria.

### **2. Material and Methods**

### *2.1. Study-Area Bioclimatology*

The territory of Algeria is composed of four principal structural units. Near the coast, in the north, there is a narrow region with several hills and plains named Tell. This region is densely populated and constitutes the main agricultural land in the country. It has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and moderate rainfall. Mean annual temperatures are close to 22 ◦C in summer and 10 ◦C in winter. Rainfall is abundant along this coastal area, increasing the amount of annual precipitation from 400 to 670 mm in the west to near 1000 mm in the east. These weather conditions determined a subhumid-humid climate tendency.

In the central area, several mountain chains were determined as the high plateau area that separates the Mediterranean area from the Saharan Atlas and the desert. This is a highly diverse area dominated in the plains by steppelike morphology. This region is characterized by a semiarid-to-arid climate with irregular and low precipitation (200–400 mm); its bowl profile explains the presence of many salt lakes (called "chotts") collecting surface water. It continues to the south with the Saharan Atlas that delimits the Sahara desert. The Saharan Atlas is formed by three massifs that are the source of watercourses that supply the wells of oases along the northern edge of the desert; the massifs are Biskra, Laghouat, and Béchar. The Sahara is a windy and very arid area with a continental climate, high thermal amplitude, and extremely poor precipitation of no more than 130 mm.
