Physicochemical and bioactive properties of honey from northwestern argentine

MARÍA INÉS ISLA, ANA CRAIG, ROXANA ORDOÑEZ, CATIANA ZAMPINI, JORGE SAYAGO, ENRIQUE BEDESCARRASBURE, ALEJANDRO ALVAREZ, VIRGINIA SALOMÓN, LUIS MALDONADO

Bs As

Congreso; 42° Congreso Internacional de Apicultura; 2011

INTA

Honey is considered as the only concentrated source of sugar available worldwide and used by man for its nutritional and functional properties. Argentine Northwest is a region with a growing potential for honey production but at the present, few physicochemical and biological studies were realized. The aim of this study is to characterize, from the standpoint of physicochemical and functional, honey samples from Northwest Argentina. Honey samples were collected from beehives located in four provinces (Tucumán, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Jujuy). The samples corresponded to monofloral (Prosopis sp and Citrus lemon) and multifloral. The results showed that the honeys have good properties of stability and freshness. The highest values of flavonoid and phenolic compounds correspond to multifloral honey samples 301 and 401 (multifloral) while the lower to the M 209 (lemon), showing a positive correlation with the intensity of color. The flavonoids, chrysin and pinocembrin were present in all samples analyzed, while hesperidin and hesperetin were numerically most important in honey lemon (> 1 mg/kg), providing a valuable marker of botanical origin. The highest antioxidant activity was obtained for the darkest honey sample. The microorganisms used for antibacterial activity determination were Gram positive and Gram negative isolated bacteria from human skin lesions: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Morganella morganii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis. All tested honeys were active with MIC values between 5 and 25% (w/v) capable of inhibiting the growth of both Gram positive and negative antibiotic resistance bacteria. The more active was 401 followed by 101 and 301 samples. Lemon honeys were not active against E. faecalis except M 207 honey. Neither pH nor osmolarity affected the growth of bacteria. The phenolic compounds were the active compounds as evidenced by bioautographic assays. The antioxidant and antimicrobial properties founded in honeys from Argentine Northwest make them products with high added value and distinguished by their quality