The amount of antioxidants in honey has a strong relationship with the plants selected by honey bees

Abstract

As one of the main sources of natural antioxidants, flowering plants play a role in the prevention and treatment of many diseases directly and indirectly. Honey is considered as an important nutrient in the supply of natural antioxidants, the amount of which is directly dependent on the plant origin and geographical location of the bee feeding place. The existence of valuable communities of native and endemic plant species has turned Alborz, Zagros and Azerbaijan into the most important hubs of honey production in Iran. In this study, we collected samples of honey from more than 90 regions in Alborz, Zagros and Azerbaijan during the years 2020 to 2021. We evaluated the samples using melissopalynology method and measuring the amount of antioxidant activity. The rise of antioxidant activity in honey is dependent on the abundance of some plant families as well botanical origins. The abundance of plant families Rosaceae, Amaranthaceae, Fabaceae and Asteraceae showed a higher influence on the amount of antioxidants in honey than other plant families. Also, the abundance of plant families Rosaceae and Fabaceae increased with increasing altitude. In general, the amount of antioxidant activity of honey samples shows a different percentage under the influence of ecological and geographical changes.

Bio-functional properties and phytochemical composition of selected Apis mellifera honey from Africa

“…Interestingly, the antioxidant capacity of all these poly-floral honeys was comparable with that of mono-floral Manuka 5+ honey (DPPH RSA of 43.48%), suggesting that they could be used as natural antioxidant agents to protect human cells against the harmful effects of free radicals [ 25 ]. The above DPPH RSA values were within the range reported in previous studies (31.1–86.9%) [ [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] ]. However, the Chogoria honey from the Eastern region of Kenya was the least potent in terms of antioxidant activity, with a DPPH RSA of 8.45%.…”

Chemical Characterization and Biological Properties of Leguminous Honey

“…However, the total polyphenol content present in our samples was lower than that observed by Otmani et al [44], who found a quantity of total polyphenols of no less than 64 mg GAE/100 g of product in different types of Fabaceae honey from the Algerian territory. However, total polyphenols and other biochemical characteristics of honey are related to the territory [44], the type of plant selected by the bees [45], and the period of pollen collection by bees [46]. 2 show the polyphenols' profile of the five legume honeys, determined through UPLC analysis.…”

Multi-parameter joint analysis of the quality of honey

“…Some authors reported that the total phenolic content in honey cannot be positively correlated with its antioxidant activity at any time (Al-Mamary et al, 2002;Küçük et al, 2007). Research shows that the flower source determines honey quality (Castiglioni et al, 2017;Boussaid et al, 2018;Shakoori et al, 2024), along with elevation (Neupane et al, 2015), climate (Liang et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2022), color value (Beretta et al, 2005), vitamins and amino acids (Liu et al, 2023), and other parameters (Gül and Pehlivan, 2018). Another study suggested that the bee hive's geographical locations and plant resources directly and significantly correlate with honey quality (Gül and Pehlivan, 2018;Shakoori et al, 2024).…”

“…Research shows that the flower source determines honey quality (Castiglioni et al, 2017;Boussaid et al, 2018;Shakoori et al, 2024), along with elevation (Neupane et al, 2015), climate (Liang et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2022), color value (Beretta et al, 2005), vitamins and amino acids (Liu et al, 2023), and other parameters (Gül and Pehlivan, 2018). Another study suggested that the bee hive's geographical locations and plant resources directly and significantly correlate with honey quality (Gül and Pehlivan, 2018;Shakoori et al, 2024). This close relationship is reflected in the fact that, on the one hand, the effective substances in plants follow the collecting bees into the beehive and ferment into honey.…”

“…On the other hand, the components in honey can be tracked and localized to plant resources (Haidamus et al, 2019;León-Canul et al, 2023). In contrast, the species Rosaceae, Amaranthaceae, Fabaceae, and Asteraceae had the greatest impact on honey's antioxidant activity (Shakoori et al, 2024). However, in existing studies, some underlying factors have been given less importance, and few consider the contribution of various indicators in honey to its antioxidant properties based on an overall perspective, making it difficult to evaluate the value of honey comprehensively.…”