Farkas Ágnes, Horváth Györgyi, Kuzma Mónika, Mayer Mátyás, Kocsis Marianna
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pécs, 7624, Pécs, Rókus str. 4., Hungary.
Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624, Pécs, Szigeti str. 12., Hungary.
Curr Res Food Sci. 2023 Jun 2;6:100526. doi: 10.1016/j.crfs.2023.100526. eCollection 2023.
Honey is a valuable source of nutrients, minerals and phenolic compounds. Phenolic acids and flavonoids are associated with health benefits of honey and can serve as markers for distinguishing honey types. This study aimed at determining the phenolic profile of four Hungarian unifloral honeys that were not analyzed previously. After verifying their botanical origin with melissopalynological analysis, total reducing capacity was determined with Folin-Ciocalteau method, and phenolic composition was analyzed with HPLC-DAD-MS. From the 25 phenolic substances examined, pinobanksin was the most abundant, followed by chrysin, -hydroxybenzoic acid and galangin. Quercetin and -syringaldehyde were detected only in acacia honey, which contained higher levels of chrysin and hesperetin compared to the other three honeys. Milkweed and linden honeys displayed higher levels of caffeic, chlorogenic, ferulic and -coumaric acids compared to acacia and goldenrod honeys. Taxifolin may serve as a unique marker compound of milkweed honey. Goldenrod honey contained the highest level of syringic acid. Principal component analysis supported the indicator role of polyphenols in honey identification, discriminating clearly the four unifloral honeys. Our results suggest that phenolic profiles may be useful to find markers of honey's floral origin, but geographical origin can strongly influence the composition of characteristic compounds.
蜂蜜是营养物质、矿物质和酚类化合物的重要来源。酚酸和黄酮类化合物与蜂蜜的健康益处相关，可作为区分蜂蜜类型的标志物。本研究旨在测定四种此前未分析过的匈牙利单花蜂蜜的酚类成分。通过花粉分析验证其植物来源后，采用福林-西奥尔特法测定总还原能力，并用高效液相色谱-二极管阵列-质谱联用仪分析酚类成分。在所检测的25种酚类物质中，松属素含量最高，其次是白杨素、对羟基苯甲酸和高良姜素。槲皮素和对香豆醛仅在刺槐蜂蜜中检测到，与其他三种蜂蜜相比，刺槐蜂蜜中白杨素和橙皮素的含量更高。与刺槐和一枝黄花蜂蜜相比，马利筋和椴树蜂蜜中咖啡酸、绿原酸、阿魏酸和对香豆酸的含量更高。紫杉叶素可能是马利筋蜂蜜的独特标志物化合物。一枝黄花蜂蜜中丁香酸含量最高。主成分分析支持了多酚在蜂蜜鉴别中的指示作用，能清晰地区分这四种单花蜂蜜。我们的结果表明，酚类成分可能有助于找到蜂蜜花源的标志物，但地理来源会强烈影响特征化合物的组成。
