Dados do Trabalho

Título

HARVEST TIME INFLUENCE ON PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY IN CANUDO-DE-PITO HONEY

Introdução

In the municipality of São Joaquim (Santa Catarina, Brazil), during January and February, there is a harvest of a rare floral honey, known as canudo-de-pito (Escallonia sp.) honey (CPH). Besides being recognized by consumers for its light color and sweet flavor, scientific evidence has also shown that this product presents in vitro antioxidant potential due to the presence of phenolic compounds, the main group related to this activity in honey. Considering that the phenolic composition of honey is influenced by the availability of raw material collected by bees, the restricted nectar seasonality for CPH production makes the harvest time an essential factor for its chemical and bioactive features. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of the harvest period on the profile and concentration of phenolic compounds and on the in vitro antioxidant capacity of CPH.

Material e Métodos

For this, three honey samples were collected for both periods, before (Dec. 2022) and during (Jan. 2023) the Escallonia sp. flowering season. Phenolic compounds were determined by LC-ESI-MS/MS, expressed as μg 100 g−1, and antioxidant capacity was assessed by FRAP, Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FC), and DPPH radical scavenging activity. The data were subjected to one-way ANOVA using Statistica® 13.5 (n=3).

Resultados e Discussão

The concentration of all the variables evaluated was different (p < 0.05) among samples. The antioxidant capacity DPPH varied from 8.96 to 17.99 mg AAE 100 g-1, FC from 43.04 to 85.52 mg AGE 100 g-1), and FRAP from 264.17 to 610.77 μmol Fe+2 100 g-1. The total phenolic concentrations ranged from 423.75 to 998.28 in honey collected in 2022, while in CPH harvested during flowering season ranged from 424.62 to 1193.74. The phenolic acids 4-aminobenzoic (85.84–201.01), salicylic (1.01– 4.18), gallic (4.38–5.23), syringaldehyde (10.26–16.95), and rosmarinic (0.55-1.53) where attributed to 2022 samples, while the acids p-coumaric (14.23-2.83) syringic (18.72–81.22) and abscisic (51.73–907.65) were related to CPH 2023.

Conclusão

Notably, honeys produced during Escallonia sp. flowering period showed distinct phenolic profile and bioactive properties. Thus, understanding the flowering seasonality is crucial for defining CPH characteristics along with proper beehive handling ensuring greater availability of pollen and nectar for CPH production.