Physical, biochemical and antioxidant properties of some Indian honeys

The study was intended to characterise the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of some commercial brands of Indian honeys. All the samples showed considerable variations with reference to their level of total phenolics, protein, radical scavenging activity, ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant content (AEAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP). Comparative studies of Indian honeys indicated the strong correlation between proline content and AEAC as well as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity whereas phenol content was strongly correlated with FRAP values. Thus, overall antioxidant activity seems to be contributed by proline and phenol contents. Besides these major factors, colour pigments (ABS460) were also found to contribute significantly to the overall observed antioxidant activity.