Comparison of Physicochemical, Microbiological Properties and Bioactive Compounds Content of Grassland Honey and other Floral Origin Honeys

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the physicochemical, the microbiological, and the antioxidant characteristics of unifloral honey, polyfloral honey, honeydew, and hay meadows honey. Hay meadow is type of semi-natural grassland with a great floral diversity, an important resource for pollinators. Grasslands are the source of the spring nectar honey obtained in May and June. Water content, sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose, trehalose, melezitose, maltose, erlose, turanose, and raffinose), electrical conductivity, phenolic content (gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, 4-hydrxybenzoic acid, vanilic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, rosmarinic acid, myricetin, quercitin, luteolin, kaempferol), color, viscosity, and microbiological characteristics were performed for all samples of honey. The total polyphenols content was significant for grassland honey (21.50 mg/100 g) and honeydew (30.49 mg/100 g) and less significant for acacia (0.08 mg/100 g) and rape honey (0.14 mg/100 g). All samples were microbiologically safe, and standard plate count (SPC) values were <10 cfu/g for all the samples, but the grassland honey had the highest microbiological quality: 33.3% of samples without microorganisms, 50.0% with the presence of yeast under limit, and 16.7% with yeast and mold under limit, a situation that does not meet other types of honey. The results of statistical analysis obtained with principal component analysis (PCA) showed a major difference between the grassland honey and the other types of honey.

Honey isomaltose contributes to the induction of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) secretion in the intestinal epithelial cells following honey heating

“…Sucrose, turanose, maltose, and isomaltose were detected in minor amounts. Although earlier studies reported the presence of trehalose and melezitose in certain honey samples 16 – 18 , our study detected neither. The glucose content in honey samples purchased in China (46.3 ± 3.4%) was significantly lower than that in Japan (49.0 ± 3.1%, p < 0.05, Student’s t -test).…”

Relationships between the Content of Phenolic Compounds and the Antioxidant Activity of Polish Honey Varieties as a Tool for Botanical Discrimination

“…The content of phenolic compounds in Polish buckwheat honey [ 12 ] was twice as high as in the present study, while the TPC in rapeseed, linden and acacia honeys was comparable to the values obtained in our study. Low total polyphenol content in rapeseed and acacia honeys was previously noted in Romanian honeys [ 19 ]. In buckwheat honey from China, the total content of phenols was three times as high as in manuka honey, amounting to 1498 mg/kg.…”

Quality Assessment of Raw Honey Issued from Eastern Romania

“…The highest range of water content was found in multifloral honey, from 15.83% to 20.77%. Studies have shown that the moisture content had a large interval of values, from 4.8% to 22.8%, in multifloral Romanian honey [32,[43][44][45]. Moisture content ranged from 14.15% to 18.94% of honey samples from Mexico and Argentina [21,46].…”