Electroanalysis and laccase-based biosensor on the determination of phenolic content and antioxidant power of honey samples

Abstract

Honey is a functional food widely consumed. Thus, the evaluation of honey samples to determine its phenolic content and antioxidant capacity (AOC) is relevant to determine its quality. Usually AOC is performed by spectrophotometric methods, which lacks reproducibility and practicality. In this context, the electroanalytical methods offer higher simplicity and accuracy. Hence, the aim of this work was to use of electroanalytical tools and laccase based biosensor on the evaluation of AOC and total phenol content (TPC) of honey samples from different countries. The antioxidant power established by electrochemical index presented good correlation with the spectrophotometric FRAP (Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma) and DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assays. Also, TPC results obtained by the biosensor agreed with the Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) assay. In addition to the semi quantitative results, the electroanalysis offered qualitative parameters, which were useful to indicate the nature of major phenolic compounds.

Keywords: Antioxidant power; Electrochemical index; Functional foods; Honey; Natural antioxidants; Polyphenol.