Abstract
Honey is a good source of several important chemical compounds and antioxidants and is harvested throughout the year. However, no study has determined how their contents change over the years. The aim of the present research was to investigate the changes in the phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant properties, as well as other physicochemical properties, of Malaysian acacia honey collected during different months during a two year period. The DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) methods were used to determine the total antioxidant activity of the honey samples. Generally, honey samples collected in the beginning and the middle of the year tended to have higher sugar content, which may be attributed to its high acidic nature and low moisture content. There was a gradual increase in the phenolic content of the acacia honey samples collected between September 2010 and December 2010. The honey sample collected at the beginning of the year (January) showed the highest color intensity and was dark amber in color. It also contained the highest concentration of phenolic compounds (341.67 ± 2.94 mggallic acid/kg), the highest flavonoid content (113.06 ± 6.18 mgcatechin/kg) andthe highest percentage of DPPH inhibition and the highest FRAP value, confirming its high antioxidant potential. There was a positive correlation between DPPH and total phenolic content, suggesting that phenolic compounds are the strongest contributing factor to the radical scavenging activity of Malaysian acacia honeys. Overall, our results indicated that there were significant seasonal variations in the antioxidant potentials of honey over the two year period and the time of honey collection affects its physicochemical properties. Therefore, acacia honey from Malaysia should ideally be collected during the dry season, particularly in the months of January, May and June.
Highlights
Honey is a sweet and flavorful natural product that is valued for its high nutritive value and its contribution to human health for many decades [1]
The pH values of the honey samples were acidic in nature, which were within the recommended limits for fresh honey (Figure 1a)
Our result was similar to previous reports on the pH of Malaysian acacia honeys
Summary
Honey is a sweet and flavorful natural product that is valued for its high nutritive value and its contribution to human health for many decades [1]. A number of components are known to act as antioxidants, including vitamin C, vitamin E, phenolic compounds and enzymes, such as catalase and peroxidase [3]. Acacia mangium is a species of flowering tree in the pea family of Fabaceae. It is widely known as forest mangrove and usually grows up to 30 metres. Its medicinal properties are still under debate; it has previously been reported that honeys that are light in color, including acacia and lime honeys, show lower antioxidant activities when compared to darker honeys, such as forest, chestnut, spruce or fir honeys [7,8]. Due to the diverse and complex composition of honey, samples originating from similar botanical origins may still have different antioxidant contents
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