Loading...
1 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
- Volatile chemical characterization and biological activity assessment of Portuguese honey types : importance of botanical originPublication . Machado, Alexandra; Figueiredo, Ana Cristina; Miguel, Maria Graça; Vilas Boas, MiguelHoney is recognized as a high-quality food product with increased consumption in recent years, and with consumer´s showing a trend for honeys with distinctive organoleptic characteristics. This encourages honey falsification, but also promotes analytical tools development to ensure compliance with quality criteria. Honey biological properties have also gained interest in a world of consumers with increased health awareness, seeking wellbeing through food. In this study, fifty-one producers’ labelled monofloral honeys, from mainland Portugal and Azores islands, were evaluated, namely, carob tree, chestnut, eucalyptus, bell heather, incense, lavender, orange, rape, raspberry, rosemary, sunflower, and strawberry tree honeys. This work aimed at contributing to the knowledge of monofloral Portuguese honeys considering a) melissopalynological analysis, b) microbiological quality control, c) physicochemical characterization, d) volatile profile evaluation, e) botanical source differentiation, f) in vitro biological activities assessment and g) phenolic content of selected honey types. Regarding botanical source 53% of the honeys were confirmed as monofloral and the remaining as multifloral. The honeys showed microbiological quality for human consumption, within the acceptance criteria for aerobic mesophilic bacteria, and for yeasts and moulds. Physicochemical characterization defined that electrical conductivity, colour, free and total acidity, and diastase activity could contribute to monofloral honeys differentiation. n-Nonadecane, n-heneicosane, n-tricosane, n-pentacosane, palmitic, linoleic and oleic acids were the main volatiles found in the honey samples, while in lower amounts, cis- and trans-linalool oxide (furanoid), hotrienol, α-isophorone, benzene acetaldehyde and 3,4,5-trimethylphenol were also identified. Fully grown classification tree analysis identified twelve volatile compounds able to fully discriminate between eleven honey types, according to the botanical source. Antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation reduction were more pronounced with chestnut, eucalyptus, bell heather, and strawberry tree honeys, while wound healing activity with orange and incense honeys. Bell heather and strawberry tree honeys showed the highest amount in total phenolics. To date this is the first study integrating several characteristics of Portuguese monofloral honeys and providing putative parameters to differentiate them. This work also highlights the great therapeutic potential of some honeys for the development of pharmaceutical formulations.