First Report on Rare Unifloral Honey of Endemic Moltkia petraea (Tratt.) Griseb. from Croatia: Detailed Chemical Screening and Antioxidant Capacity

Chem Biodivers. 2017 Mar;14(3). doi: 10.1002/cbdv.201600268. Epub 2017 Feb 9.

Abstract

Rare Moltkia petraea (Tratt.) Griseb. honey from Croatia was first time characterised. The spectrophotometric assays on CIE L*a*b*Cab *hab ° colour coordinates, total phenol content and antioxidant capacity (FRAP, CUPRAC, DPPH• and ABTS•+ assays) determined higher honey values generally close to dark honeys ranges. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) on two fibres after GC-FID and GC/MS revealed the major compounds 2-phenylacetaldehyde (12.8%; 15.6%), benzaldehyde (11.1%; 10.0%), octane (9.3%; 7.6%), nonane, propan-2-one, pentan-2-one, pentanal and nonanal (4.9%; 14.5%). Ultrasonic solvent extraction (USE) mainly isolated non-specific higher molecular compounds characteristic of the comb environment. Targeted HLPC-DAD analysis of the honey determined higher concentration of phenylalanine (212.08 mg/kg) and lumichrome (16.25 mg/kg) along with tyrosine and kojic acid. The headspace composition (chemical fingerprint) and high concentration of lumichrome can be considered particular for M. petraea honey.

Keywords: Antioxidant capacity; GC/MS; HPLC-DAD; HS-SPME and USE; Lumichrome; Moltkia petraea honey.

MeSH terms

  • Antioxidants / chemistry*
  • Antioxidants / isolation & purification
  • Boraginaceae / chemistry*
  • Boraginaceae / metabolism
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Croatia
  • Flavins / analysis
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Honey / analysis*
  • Phenols / analysis
  • Phenylalanine / analysis
  • Pyrones / analysis
  • Solid Phase Microextraction
  • Sonication
  • Tyrosine / analysis

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Flavins
  • Phenols
  • Pyrones
  • 7,8-dimethylalloxazine
  • Tyrosine
  • Phenylalanine
  • kojic acid