Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the changes in the contents of flavonoids that were the most prevalent in acacia and multifloral honey during one year of storage. Samples were stored in transparent glass containers, at room temperature, on open shelves exposed to light during daytime. Eight individual flavonoids identified and quantified using HPLC-Diode Array Detector (DAD) belongs to three subgroups: flavonols (quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol and galangin), total flavanons (hesperetin and pinocembrin) and total flavones (apigenin and chrysin). Obtained results revealed that multifloral honey had more total flavonoids than acacia samples did. On average from all of the samples, multifloral honey had more of quercetin, hesperetin, luteolin, kaempferol and apigenin than acacia honey did. Content of flavonoids increased in samples between the 1st and 6th month of storage and then started to decrease until the 9th month, when they remained relatively constant all the way until the 12th month of storage. In conclusion, acacia and multifloral honey after one-year of storage still can be a valuable source of flavonoids.
Highlights
Honey is quite a complex mixture of more than 70 different compounds
Results from this study showed that phenolic compounds are potential markers for the floral origins for some honey types; while they cannot be used for others due to the absence of their floral specificity
Our results showed that storage had significant impacts on flavonoids and botanical origin of honey that is contrary to the findings from Maurya et al, who stated that storage had only minor influences on phenolics in the honey [22]
Summary
Honey is quite a complex mixture of more than 70 different compounds. Some of them are added by honeybees, some come from the nectar producing plants, while some during ripening of honey in honeycombs [1]. Despite the rapid development of various analytical methods, composition of honey is still not completely elucidated [2,3,4]. In some ways, this is not an issue as not knowing all the ingredients prevents artificial industrial production and adulterations. That way honey maintains it properties of a natural product, produced solely by the honeybees. The most represented compounds in honey are water and carbohydrates, mostly fructose and glucose, which together make
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