Bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential of honey produced by africanized bees (Apis mellifera L.) in Piauí

Abstract

This work evaluated the bioactive compounds and the antioxidant potential of honey produced by Africanized bees (Apis mellifera L.) in the state of Piauí, Brazil. The analyses show that all honeys investigatedpresented features of the pollen type Mimosa caesalpiniifolia. The content of phenolic compounds ranged from 27.65 to 97.01 mg in GAE g-1 of honey, with an average content of 62.66 ± 20.46 mgEAG g-1 of honey. The total flavonoid contents expressed in mg of quercentin/g of honey ranged from 5.43 to 13.02 mg of QE g-1, with an average of 8.33 ± 1.86 mg of QE g-1 of honey. The best performance of antioxidant activity by reducing power was EC50 of 0.15 and the lowest performance of antioxidant activity with IC50 was 1.24. The highest antioxidant activity (DPPH) ranged from 66.11 ± 0.02mg EAQ 100g-1, while the lowest activities were 9.16 and 10.88 mg EAQ 100g-1. The results show that the contents of total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, DPPH antioxidant activity, and the pollen-reducing power from Piauí were influenced by botanical origin.

Keywords

• palynology, honey characterization, beekeeping