Colour and antioxidant activities of honey from different floral sources and geographical origins in Tanzania

Abstract

Honey is a sweet, yellowish liquid that is produced by honey bees and it has been used for many years for nutrition and therapeutic purposes. Its therapeutic potential has been associated to its antioxidant capacity which plays an important protective role in human health through scavenging of free radicals in the human body and thereby decreases the amount of free radical and damage to biological molecules like lipids and DNA. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of floral source (miombo and acacia) and geographical origin (Central, Coastal, Lake, Northern, and Southern Highland) in mainland Tanzania on colour and antioxidant activity of honey samples. Colour, total flavonoids content (TFC), total phenol phenolic contents (TPC) and antioxidant activities of the samples were evaluated using UV/Vis spectrophotometer, Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) methods respectively. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all parameters assessed between floral sources. Miombo honey samples had higher pfund values (mm) for colour ranged from 31.55 mm (white) to 143.98 (dark amber) than acacia samples with values ranged from 17.33 (extra white) to 62.28 mm (light amber). Miombo samples had higher TFC values of 13.5±0.25-39.9±0.42 mgRE/100g DM) and TPC of 127.9±2.5-395.2 mg GAE/100g DM) than acacia samples with values of 12.7±0.60-17.5±0.38 mgRE/100g DM and 119.5-168.2 mg GAE/100g DM respectively. Similarly, significantly (p<0.05) highest and lowest FRAP values of 488.9-956.3 and 252.6-368.26 μM Fe2+/100g DM were observed in Miombo and acacia honey samples respectively. Moreover, variations in colour, TFC, TPC and FRAP between zones were significant (p<0.05). Within the miombo samples, northern and coastal zones had respective lowest and highest values whereas central and northern zones had respective lowest and highest values within the acacia samples. A strong correlation (R² = 0.942) between TPC and antioxidant activities of honey samples suggest that the antioxidant of honey is highly linked to TPC. Therefore, the study has revealed that, floral sources and geographical origins have varied significant effects on colour, flavonoids, total phenols and antioxidant activities of Mainland Tanzania honey. Honey samples from miombo floral source had higher antioxidant activities and hence their consumption is more recommended.

Keywords: Phenol, antioxidant, floral sources, geographical origin