The Physicochemical Characteristics of Gelam Honey and Its Outcome on the Female Reproductive Tissue of Sprague-Dawley Rats: A Preliminary Study.

Nur Hilwani Ismail,Siti Fatimah Ibrahim,Mohd Helmy Mokhtar,Khairul Osman,Aini Farzana Zulkefli

doi:10.3390/molecules26113346

Nur Hilwani Ismail, Siti Fatimah Ibrahim + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113346

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Abstract

Gelam honey (GH) is a prized natural product synthesized from the nectar of flowers from Gelam trees (Melaleuca sp.). Gelam is an evergreen tree species that grows in tropical regions such as Malaysia. GH is a multifloral honey with proven antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the beneficial effect of GH on female reproductive tissue has yet to be substantiated. Herein, we investigated the effects of GH administration on the uterine and vaginal epithelial thickness of sexually mature Sprague–Dawley rats. Epithelia thickness could be an indicator of an atrophy manifesting as a symptom of a cardio syndrome. Rats were given oral doses of GH in four groups for 14 days; the lowest dose was 0.2 g GH/kg body weight (bw) rat/day and the highest dose was 8 g GH/kg bw rat/day. The physicochemical characteristics of GH were assessed through hydroxymethylfurfural and moisture content determination and sugar identification. GH attenuated the atrophy of the uterine and vaginal epithelia and increased the thickness of the endometrial stroma and endometrial surface endothelial layer. However, the dissonance observed in the effect of GH administration on the vaginal epithelium requires further investigation. Nevertheless, GH may have a strong potential in attenuating uterine and vaginal atrophies.

Highlights

Gelam honey (GH) had lower hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and moisture contents compared with Tualang honey (TH) (Table 1)
The monosaccharides of the two honey types including glucose, fructose and maltose were similar (Figure 1) but the contents of each monosaccharide were generally higher in GH than in TH (Table 2)
All values recorded for GH complied with the suggested values in the Codex Alimentarius

Summary

Introduction

Honey is a sweet and viscid liquid produced by honey bees via a collection of floral nectar. In Malaysia, monofloral honeys such as acacia honey and pineapple honey are produced by the Apis mellifera bee species [1]. Gelam honey (GH) is produced by A. dorsata bees and classified as a multifloral honey [2]. A. dorsata is a wild giant honey bee species that typically inhabits high branches in large forest trees from. GH was analyzed for SVOCs using GC/MS based on the U.S E.P.A. 8270 method [44]. The sample was injected into the split-less inlet of an Agilent 7890B, 5977B MSD. GC-MS system (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). The SVOCs were identified by a comparison of the peaks obtained with those in the NIST library (Gaithersburg, MD, USA).

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