Hydrogen Peroxide and Dicarbonyl Compounds Concentration in Honey Samples from Different Botanical Origins and Altitudes in the South of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Different factors are known to affect the chemical constituents of the bees honey including the climate and the floral origin. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of floral origin and altitude on some physiochemical properties of honey samples from the south western part of Saudi Arabia. The investigated physiochemical properties were the pH, conductivity and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and dicarbonyl molecules. Fifteen Ziziphus spina christi honey samples were collected from three different altitudes in Asir Region (113, 317 and 511 meters above sea level) and twenty fiveAcacia spp honey samples (14, 113, 567, 576 and 2247 meters above sea level). Honey pollens were analyzed to confirm the botanical origin of the honey samples. The pH and conductivity of the honey were determined and compared to three honey standards (Gulf countries standards, CODEX and USA national honey board). The hydrogen peroxide percentage (ww) was determined by titration with ceric sulfate and ferroin as indicator while the dicarbonyls were determined as glyoxal equivalent using spectrophotometer. The pH and conductivity were measured using pH meter and conductometer. The SPSS version 20 program was used for the analysis of the obtained results. The honey samples contained high amounts of the plants pollens and the pH and conductivity were within the standards ranges. The Ziziphus honey was characterized by significantly high mean percentage of hydrogen peroxide (3.9% ± 2.2) compared to the Acacia honey (2.5% ± 0.83) and the Acacia honey contained the highest mean concentration of the dicarbonyl molecules (278.7mg/100g ± 278.4) compared to (147.6mg/ 100g ± 93.2) in the Ziziphus honey. Regarding the effect of altitude, the high altitudes were characterized by low concentrations of hydrogen peroxides and high concentration of dicarbonyl molecules. The altitude significantly increased the dicarbonyl molecules concentration and significantly decreased the hydrogen peroxide percentage.The Ziziphus honey was characterized by significant high percentage of hydrogen peroxide while the Acacia honey was characterized by significant high concentration of dicarbonyl molecules.

Bee's Honeys With High Concentration of Dicarbonyl Molecules Are Rich in Vitamin C and Deficient in Hydrogen Peroxide

“…Siimilar to the conclusion of this study, We have concluded in another study that the altitude signi cantly affected the hydrogen peroxide percentage (Mohammed et al, 2019). Similar to our previous study nding (Mohammed et al, 2019), the altitude of this study signi cantly affected the concentration of dicarbonyl compounds in the Ziziphus and Acacia honey samples. However, the two studies were conducted in different seasons.…”

“…With regard to the effect of oral origin, this study reported a signi cant effect of the oral origin on the concentration of the dicarbonyl molecules (p-value= 0.007) and this conclusion was similar to the conclusion of our previous study in a different harvesting time (Mohammed et al, 2019). However, Arena et al (2011) classi ed different origin honey depeding on the diacrbonyl compounds and the phenols.…”

“…In a previous study, We have reported that the altitude signi cantly affected the concnetration of vitamin C in Acacia and Ziziphus honey samples in different harvesting season (Al-Mosa et al, 2019). Siimilar to the conclusion of this study, We have concluded in another study that the altitude signi cantly affected the hydrogen peroxide percentage (Mohammed et al, 2019). Similar to our previous study nding (Mohammed et al, 2019), the altitude of this study signi cantly affected the concentration of dicarbonyl compounds in the Ziziphus and Acacia honey samples.…”

Quality evaluation of Saudi honey harvested from the Asir province by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

“…In Saudi Arabia, a lot of research was carried out on different aspects of honey. The effect of floral origin and altitude on physiochemical properties and concentration of vitamins was analyzed by Al-Mosa et al, 2019 , Mohammed et al, 2019 . Many researchers worked on antimicrobial ( Abdallah and Hamed, 2019 , Al-Hindi and Shehata, 2014 , Ansari et al, 2017a , Ghramh et al, 2019a , Ghramh et al, 2019b , Owayss et al, 2019 ), antioxidant ( Al-Hindi and Shehata, 2014 ), physicochemical properties including some quality parameters ( Ahamed et al, 2017 , Alqarni et al, 2014 , Alqarni et al, 2016 , Mesallam and El-Shaarawy, 1987 , Osman et al, 2007 ), mineral contents ( Al-Hindi and Shehata, 2014 , Alqarni et al, 2014 , Arida et al, 2012 , Osman et al, 2007 , Taha et al, 2018 ), floral pigments ( Alqarni et al, 2016 ), heavy metals ( Bazeyad et al, 2019 ), validation of botanical origins and geographical sources through ultraviolet spectroscopy and chemo metric analysis ( Ansari et al, 2018 ), and formation and biological activities of nanoparticles by using honey samples ( Al-Brahim and Mohammed, 2020 , Ghramh et al, 2019b ).…”

Acacia honey from different altitudes: total phenols and flavonoids, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra, and anticancer activity

“…For example, honey is used as an antimicrobial agent because of its dicarbonyl compounds (methylglyoxal) and hydrogen peroxide content, and it acts as an antioxidant because it contains flavonoids, vitamins and minerals. 4 , 5 …”