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Phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of Mint (Mentha spp.) honey

The composition of honey is influenced by the botanical source and geographical area of the nectar from which it is derived. Unifloral honeys reach higher market values than multifloral ones due to their specific and reproducible aromas, which result from volatile and phenolic compounds. The aim of our study was to characterize the phenolic composition of a rare unfloral variety of honey- Mentha spp. honey. To date, only the volatile fraction of Mentha spp. honey has been analysed, and the detailed phenolic composition of these honeys remains unknown. Our results indicate that Mentha spp. honeyhas high phenolic content, ranging from 76.66 ± 0.56 to 121.14 ± 3.81 mg GAE eq phenols/100 g and 6.70 ± 0.62 to 17.10 ± 0.68 mg QUE eq flavonoids/100 g. These honeys also exhibit strong antioxidant activity ranging from 33.58 ± 2.80 to 57.86 ± 1.24 mg Trolox eq/100 g and 14.37 ± 0.85 to 57.83 ± 0.18 mg Trolox eq/100 g when analysed using DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. Quantitative LC- MS/MS analysis revealed that the most abundant phenols in all samples were chrysin, apigenin and p-coumaric acid. Qualitative LC-MS/MS analysis identified the presence of kaempferide, diosmetin, acacetin and several caffeic acid derivatives. Our study indicates that Mentha spp. honeys contain unique phenolic profiles, which likely contribute to their distinctive aroma and strong antioxidant activity.

Mentha spp. honey ; antioxidant activity ; LC-MS/MS ; phenols ; phenolic profiling

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