Antioxidant and sensorial properties of acacia honey supplemented with prunes

The changes in total phenol and flavonoid content, as well as antioxidant activity was monitored in acacia honey supplemented with prunes in 20, 30 and 40% mass concentrations. The total phenolic content increased by 2.5 times (from 16.18 to 41.64 mg GAE/100 g) with increasing concentration of prunes in honey, while the increase in flavonoid content was even higher, approximately 11.5-fold (from 2.65 to 30.86 mg RE/100 g). The addition of prunes also improved the antioxidant activity of acacia honey. The honey samples with highest content of prunes, 40%, exhibited the best antioxidant activity measured by hydroxyl radical sacvenging assay (EC50 OH=4.56 mg/ml), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay (EC50 DPPH=16.48 mg/ml), and reducing power (EC50 RP=81.17 mg/ml). Judging from the high correlation coefficients, ranging from 0.771 to 0.947 for total phenolics, and from 0.862 to 0.993 for total flavonoids, it is obvious that these compounds were associated with the antioxidant mechanisms. On the other hand, sensorial properties of supplemented honeys were lower than that of pure acacia honey, where flavor of supplemented honey was the least affected. Our results indicate that the supplementation of honey with prunes improves antioxidant activity of honey by enriching the phenolic composition, with slight modifications in sensorial characteristics.