Methodological Aspects about Determination of Phenolic Compounds and In Vitro Evaluation of Antioxidant Capacity in the Honey: A Review

The antioxidant activity of honey varies greatly depending on the honey's floral source. There is little knowledge about the profiles of antioxidant substances in honey from different floral sources. The variation in these profiles might be responsible for the widely varying ability of honey to protect against oxidative reactions. Honey is rich in polyphenol compounds, which act as natural antioxidants, and are becoming increasingly popular because of their potential role in contributing to human health. These compounds can also be used as indicators in studies about the floral and geographical origin of the honey. Therefore, we overviewed the current analytical methods for measuring polyphenols and antioxidant capacity in honey. The analytical procedure to determine individual phenolic compounds involves their extraction from the sample, analytical separation and quantification. The analytical separation techniques widely employed are gas chromatography, high-pressure liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. The techniques to evaluate the antioxidant capacity are based on colorimetric assays such as DPPH, FRAP, TEAC (ABTS) and microplate fluorescence reader like ORAC assay.