Abstract
Little is known about the global structure of honey and the arrangement of its main macromolecules. We hypothesized that the conditions in ripened honeys resemble macromolecular crowding in the cell and affect the concentration, reactivity, and conformation of honey macromolecules. Combined results from UV spectroscopy, DLS and SEM showed that the concentration of macromolecules was a determining factor in honey structure. The UV spectral scans in 200–400 nm visualized and allowed quantification of UV-absorbing compounds in the following order: dark > medium > light honeys (p < 0.0001). The high concentration of macromolecules promoted their self-assembly to micron-size superstructures, visible in SEM as two-phase system consisting of dense globules distributed in sugar solution. These particles showed increased conformational stability upon dilution. At the threshold concentration, the system underwent phase transition with concomitant fragmentation of large micron-size particles to nanoparticles in hierarchical order. Honey two-phase conformation was an essential requirement for antibacterial activity and hydrogen peroxide production. These activities disappeared beyond the phase transition point. The realization that active macromolecules of honey are arranged into compact, stable multicomponent assemblies with colloidal properties reframes our view on global structure of honey and emerges as a key property to be considered in investigating its biological activity.
Highlights
Honey chemical composition is a complex mixture of structurally and functionally diverse molecules that originate from plant nectars, pollen and from honeybee itself
The main aim of this study was to analyze whether macromolecular crowding in ripened honeys affects honey conformation differently than in dilute, aqueous solution and whether these conformational changes have a relevance to honey antibacterial activity and hydrogen peroxide production
Using an approach that combined UV spectral profiling, dynamic light scattering, SEM and mathematical model, we provided a novel view on global honey structure, its conformational phase transition with dilution and the effects of these structural changes on the antibacterial activity and hydrogen peroxide production
Summary
Honey chemical composition is a complex mixture of structurally and functionally diverse molecules that originate from plant nectars, pollen and from honeybee itself. After placing droplets of the nectar-pollen mixture in open comb cells, enzymes of bee hypopharyngeal glands start to hydrolyze nectar’s carbohydrates to glucose and fructose Subsequently, through nectar evaporation by the bee’s accelerated wing fanning, these sugars are concentrate to about 82%. In this process, up to 70% of water is removed from honey, generating the supersaturated sugar solution with considerably restricted amounts of free water. Source wildflower borage wild clover firewood clover/canola dandelion clover bland blackberry clover/buckwheat buckwheat canola/willow sunflower buckwheat wildflower buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat
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