An Investigation into Corsican Honey: Chemical Composition and Biological Activities

Abstract

The present work studied five corsican honey varieties (spring maquis, autumn maquis, spring honey, summer maquis, and blended honey) and the correlation of their chemical composition, antioxidant activity, and ability to inhibit enzymes (acetylcholinesterase [AChE] and tyrosinase), which are associated with several diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Analysis using headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME)/Gas chromatography (GC)/GC-Mass spectrometry (MS) indicated that the samples presented different chemical profiles. The main components of spring maquis honey are 4-propylanisol (14.7%) and p-anisaldehyde (11.7%). For autumn maquis honey, they are isophorone (34.8%) and 3,4,5-trimethylphenol (27.1%), and for spring honey, they are phenylacetaldehyde (15.8%) and (2R, 2’S, 5’S)-lilac aldehyde (10.1%). For blended honey, they are 3-furaldehyde (13.9%) and 4-propylanisol (10.8%), and for summer maquis honey, they are phenylacetaldehyde (33.6%) and benzaldehyde (9.1%). All the types of honey studied showed antioxidant activity in the three tests studied. The most potent honey in the DPPH test (IC50 = 73.69 µg/mL), the reducing iron test (IC50 = 45.12 µg/mL), and the β-carotene test (IC50 = 53.80 µg/mL) was autumn scrub honey. All the types of honey studied have inhibitory capacities on acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase. Our study found that corsican honey is a rich source of organic compounds that could positively impact health.