Evaluation of Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Activity of Honey in Different Geographical Regions of Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Honey is a natural sweet substance which the physico-chemical properties and antioxidants of honey are depended to the kinds of plant and flower in each region. Therefore, it is required to know components of each. The main aim of current study was to investigate the physiochemical and antioxidant properties of 32 different samples from different regions (South, central, North and Northwestern) of Iran.
Materials & Methods: Thus, physiochemical tests such as moisture content, pH, acidity, Ash content, reducing sugar before hydrolysis, sucrose, HMF on honey samples were done. Also the total amount of phenolic compounds using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH method. The collected data were coded and analyzed through SPSS by applying one-way ANOVA. The results depicted significant (P<0.05).
Result: The obtained range values of each test is as follows: The range of pH was 4.06-4.39, acidity 8-20 mEq/kg, moisture 14.9-18.8%, ash 0.2-0.6%, HMF 4.49-17.55 mg/kg, reduced sugar 71.42-80.88%, sucrose 1.7-4.88%, DPPH 32.37-74.77% and phenolic content was 12.69- 54.66 mg/100g.
Conclusion: We found significant differences (P < 0.05) in pH, acidity, moisture, ash, HMF, DPPH and phenolic content between different regions of producing honey but not with sucrose and reduced sugar. Our results are consistent with previous findings and CODEX standards.