Honeybee honey and stingless bee honey quality characteristics and their anticancer potential in HeLa cells

Abstract

Honey is one of the best natural foods produced by bees. In the present study, samples of processed honeybee honey and processed stingless bee honey were analysed. The study aimed to compare their phytochemical, antioxidant and physicochemical properties and also to compare their anticancer potential towards HeLa cells. Honey samples were first analysed for total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and diastase activity in order to determine their phytochemical, antioxidant and quality characteristics, respectively. They were then analysed to investigate anticancer properties in the sample using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2 -yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results revealed that honeybee honey had significantly (p<0.0001) higher total phenolic content as compared to stingless bee honey at 635.48(29.68) and 368.11(17.75) mg GAE/kg, respectively. The total flavonoid content of honeybee honey was 45.11(5.44) and that of stingless bee honey was 64.25 (7.54) mg CEQ/kg (p>0.05). The HMF of honeybee honey was 83.4 mg/kg and the diastase activity of stingless bee honey was 5.1 DN. On the other hand, the HMF of stingless bee honey and diastase activity of honeybee honey were undetectable in the current study. The 50% cell inhibition activity (IC50) of honeybee honey was reported at 13.75 mg/mL, while a value for stingless bee honey could not be obtained. In conclusion, processed honeybee honey is better than processed stingless bee honey in terms of phytochemicals, antioxidant and anticancer potential. However, processed stingless bee honey shows better honey quality characteristics based on HMF and diastase activity.