Antioxidant Activities and Heavy Metal Contents of Castanea Sativa Honey

Honey is one of the most valuable foods in terms of its antioxidant nature and antioxidant activity. In this study, their botanic origins, total flavonoid content, total phenol content, the hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity (HPSA) (in terms of SC50 (µg mL-1)), ferric reducing antioxidant power capacity (FRAP), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (in terms of SC50), metal-chelating activity (MCA) (%) and heavy metal amounts were examined to determine the qualities of honey samples that gathered from Giresun city of Black Sea region in Turkey. According to the melissopalynological analysis, the botanic origins of the samples are Castanea sativa (Chestnut) Miller and uni-floral. The HPSA, FRAP, DPPH, MCA (%), total phenol content (TPC), and total flavonoid content (TFC) were found between 251.99±0.48-258.64±1.22 µg mL-1, 71.34±0.09-73.71±0.20 %, 584.86±0.06-595.04±0.29 µg mL-1, 36.73±0.00-36.86±0.09 %, 93.82±1.05-173.15±2.46 mg GAE 100 g-1 and 5.51±0.19-8.29±0.05 mg CAE/100 g, respectively. For comparison of these results, Butylated Hydroxy Anisole (BHA), Butylated Hydroxy Toluene (BHT) and α-Tocopherol (TOC) were used as standard antioxidant compounds. In addition, it was observed that honey samples were been contaminated with most of the heavy metals (Al, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Ni, Rb, and Zn) to a lesser or greater extent, whereas others (Te, Tl, and U) were never detected in these samples. However, Cd and Cs were detected only in one sample and Pb in another sample Finally, the results indicate that although honey is an important source of nutrients, nevertheless it could be affected by environmental pollution.