Characterization of antioxidant activity and analysis of phenolic acids and flavonoids in linden honey

Ten linden honey samples from China and Russia were analyzed in this study. Based on the determination of total polyphenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), the antioxidant activities of ten linden honey samples were analyzed. The results showed that the TPC and TFC in linden honey were ranged from 17.57 to 31.95 mg GAE 100 g-1 and 0.81 to 1.77 mg RE 100 g-1. The TPC and TFC of linden honey were strongly correlated with the antioxidant capacity, and the pearson’s correlation values (p≤0.01) were 0.828 and 0.770 respectively. In this work, the phenolic acids and flavonoids of linden honey were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It was found that there were a lot of lindenin and abscisic acid in linden honey. Principal component analysis (PCA) and differential characteristic analysis were used to analyze the composition differences among linden honey samples. The results obtained for TPC, TFC and antioxidant capacities of linden honeys indicate linden honey had good quality as a healthy food.