Antioxidant Activity of Sunflower and Meadow Honey

Honey is a natural food produced by bees from the nectar of flowers and is a mixture of carbohydrates, amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and many bioactive compounds. Due to its special composition, honey is a functional food with antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Studies have shown that honey’s properties depend mainly on the vegetable source from which it is obtained, but also on the processing type and storage. This research aims to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of sunflower honey compared to meadow honey by assessing total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total antioxidant activity, free radicals scavenging activity and reducing power. For the determination of total phenols and flavonoids, antioxidant capacity and reducing power, spectrophotometric methods were used. To assess free radicals scavenging activity, chemiluminometric methods were used. Meadow honey showed the highest concentration of polyphenols (143.29 ± 9.12 mg GAE / kg) and flavonoids (118.09±8.84 mg CE / kg). DPPH radical scavenging capacity was higher for sunflower honey (78.32 ± 5.11%) compared to meadow honey (45.12 ± 3.26%). The two honey types showed capacity to scavenge superoxide anion and singlet oxygen, with an inhibition rate of over 50%. In conclusion, sunflower honey and meadow honey presented important concentrations of polyphenols and flavonoids and the results suggest a relationship between honey type and total polyphenols and free radicals scavenging activity.