Pollen Diversity, Antiradical and Antibacterial Activity and Phenolic Contents of some Polish Honeys

Abstract

The main objective of the presented research was to perform pollen analysis in seven kinds of honey taken in South-West region of Poland and measure total phenol amounts as well as antiradical, antibacterial and antifungal activities of these honeys. Phenolic compounds were investigated with the colorimetric method using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, antiradical activity was determined using DPPH radical and antimicrobial features was studied with the disc-diffusion method. Three kinds of honey were determined as monofloral, rape honey, three as multifloral, and one as honeydew. The antiradical activity of honeys was small and the decrease of absorbency of samples during 24 hours was 0,102±0,0062 to 0,427±0,042 and positively correlated with the total amount of phenolic compounds in these honeys. No honey exhibited antifungal activity. Three honeys possessed no antibacterial activity and four showed some antibacterial features against some species of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. In conclusion, the antiradical activity of the honey from South-West region of Poland was very low which positively correlated with the small amount of phenolic compounds. A positive correlation was observed between antibacterial activity of honey and total phenol content. Keywords: Honey, pollen analysis, phenolic compounds, antiradical activity, antimicrobial activity, varieties of honeys.