Hydrogen Peroxide and Dicarbonyl Compounds Concentration in Honey Samples from Different Botanical Origins and Altitudes in the South of Saudi Arabia

Introduction

Honey is a natural nutrient produced by honey bees from different sources including the nectar of the plants, secretions from different parts of the plants and from the secretions of plant insects. There are two types of honey depending on its source; nectar or blossom honey and honeydew honey. The nectar honey is produced by the honey bees depending on the plants nectar as a nutrient source while the nutrient source of the honeydew honey is the plant or plant insects secretions.¹

The two types of honey are rich in carbohydrates including monosaccharide sugars like fructose and glucose, disaccharides like sucrose, trehalose and maltose and oligosaccharides such as raffinose. However, the honeydew is rich in oligosaccharide compared to the blossom honey.²

The honey contains small amount of proteins (0.5%) and it contain three protein enzymes; diastase (amylase), sucrase (invertase or glucosidase) and glucose oxidase. The diastase and invertase break down the glycosidic bonds of polysaccharide (starch and glycogen) and disaccharides (sucrose),respectively. The glucose oxidase converts glucose to hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid. It is well known that the honey is used as topical antibiotic because of its high hydrogen peroxide content.²

The honey is also rich in acids like the gluconic acid and poly phenols like flavonoids, phenolic acid and its derivatives. The dominant flavonoids in honey are quercetin, chrysin, galangin, luteolin, kaempferol and apigenin. However, the aroma and color of the honey are mostly due to their content of acids and polyphenols.^3,4

Different factors are well known to be involved in the determination of the physiochemical properties of honey including the botanical and geographical origin and the conditions of processing and storage.⁵

The aim of this manuscript was to investigate the effect of floral origin and altitude of honey samples on some biochemical parameters including the pH, conductivity and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and dicarbonyl molecules.

Material and Methods

Samples Collection

Forty honey samples were collected directly from bee farms in Asir region at the south western part of Saudi Arabia. The honey samples were of two floral origins and six different altitudes. The floral origins of the honey samples were Ziziphus spina christi and different Acacia spp. The altitude of the bee farms was determined...