Nutraceutical properties ofRomanian heather honey

Adela Moise, Alexandru Marghitas Liviu, Daniel Dezmirean andOtilia Bobis

Department of Apiculture and Sericulture,Laboratory of Bee Products Control,

University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca,Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract

Purpose – The main purpose of this study is to create a complete physico-chemical characterisationof Romanian heather honey.

Design/methodology/approach – A total of 30 samples of heather honey were harvested fromthree different geographical areas (Fantanele, Calatele, Marisel) from Transylvania region (Romania).This study contains a complete characterization of heather honey regarding its physico-chemicalcomposition, total phenols content, flavonoids content, antioxidant activity (expressed as radicalscavenging activity – RSA) and micro- and macroelements content.

Findings – The results obtained for the total phenols content and total flavonoids demonstrate thathoney samples have good bioactive properties and the antioxidant activities are similar to those of darkhoneys. Heather honeys normally have a high content of minerals, having their origin in soil.All quantified minerals in heather honey presented values higher that those reported for other typesof honey.

Practical implications – Heather honey is a very important type of honey for consumers, whichdue to its features has a high price on the local market. This study provides the main analyticalmethods for honey quality determination, which is very important for the students.

Originality/value – For the first time in Romania a complete study of heather honey was done.

Keywords Heather honey properties, Chemical composition, Phenols, Flavonoids,Radical scavenging activity, Minerals, Honey, Romania

Paper type Research paper

1. IntroductionCalluna vulgaris (L.) Hull (heather) belongs to Calluna genus (Ericaceae). It can be foundespecially in alpine areas and in Transylvania region (Romania) is pretty common.It was used anciently for treating the urinary tract disorders, wound healing, and forits antirheumatic, expectorant and antiseptic properties. A large description of itsphytochemicals was made by Monschein et al. (2010).

The heather is a melliferous plant and honey obtained by its nectar forage is veryimportant for beekeepers and for consumers. For his reason the knowledge of itsnutraceutical properties is very important.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0034-6659.htm

This work has benefited from financial support through the 2010 POSDRU/89/1.5/S/52432project, “Organizing the National Interest Postdoctoral School of Applied Biotechnologies withImpact on Romanian Bioeconomy”, project co-financed by the European Social Fund through theSectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013.

Nutrition & Food ScienceVol. 43 No. 3, 2013pp. 218-227q Emerald Group Publishing Limited0034-6659DOI 10.1108/00346651311327864

NFS43,3

218

Heather honey is characterized by a particular physical phenomenon, calledthixotropy; hence it has a jelly consistence due to the presence of colloidal proteins.This property makes the extraction from the combs possible only with special tools(Marghitas, 2005).

Many physico-chemical parameters of heather honey are important for itsnutraceutical characterization: sugars profile, aminoacid profile, volatiles, organic acidsand mineral content (Cordella et al., 2003; Dezmirean et al., 2010; Mato et al., 2003; Was et al.,2011).

The heather honey has strong antibacterial and antioxidant properties (Beretta et al.,2005; Kumarasamy et al., 2002). Flavonoids like myricetin, myricetin-3-methylether,myricetin-30-methylether, and tricetin are the main characteristic compounds inheather honeys and they can be used like botanical markers (Wang and Li, 2011).

The mineral content in honey depends on its botanical origin, for instance, lightblossom honeys having a lower content of minerals than dark honeys such ashoneydew, chestnut and heather (Gonzalez-Miret et al., 2005; Sevlimli et al., 1992). Thesource of minerals in honey is given by the soil mineral composition (Bordean et al.,2010; Pisani et al., 2008).

Few studies exist about the Romanian heather honey and our major aim was tomake a thoroughgoing study of this valuable sort of honey.

2. Material and methods2.1 SamplesA total of 30 samples of heather honey produced in three different areas (Fatanele,Calatele and Marisel) from Transylvania (Romania) were harvested; the honey sampleswere purchased directly from beekeepers and stored at 48C, in dark conditions untilanalysis.

In order to determine its nutraceutical properties the next analyses were done:water content, electrical conductivity, ash content, pH, free acidity, lactones acidity, totalacidity, total phenols, total flavonoids, antioxidant activity and mineral content.

All analysis was performed in triplicate, according to International HoneyCommission (Bogdanov et al., 1997) and in agreement with European Union Directives.

2.2 ReagentsUltra pure water (Ultra Clear Direct UV SG, Germany) was used for physico-chemicaland sugars analysis. Double distilled water was used for the preparation of reagentsand mineral’s standards.

Methanol and acetonitrile (HPLC grade), organic solvents, saccharide standards,2,2-diphenyl-1-hydrazyl-hydrate p.a. (DPPH), gallic acid and quercetine were purchasedfrom Sigma Aldrich Co.

Mineral standard solutions (1,000 mg/L) were procured from Merck.

2.3 ApparatusThe apparatus used in laboratory were: an Abbe digital refractometer (Optic IvymenSystem), a Hanna Instruments conductometer, an HPLC Shimadzu with IR detectorRID-10A, an Alltima Amino 100A column, a UV-VIS spectrophotometer 1700(Shimadzu, Japan), an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (ContrAA300, AnalyticJena) with deuterium lamp for background corrections.

Nutraceuticalproperties of

heather honey

219

2.4 Physico-chemical propertiesAll physico-chemical parameters were determinate in accordance with HarmonizedMethods of International Honey Commission.

The water content was determinate refractometrically, the ash content (percent) wasdeterminate gravimetrically and HMF contents spectrophotometrically (Bogdanov et al.,1997). The heather honey acidities were determinate by automatic titration.

Eight sugars (Table I) were quantified using a method described by Bonta et al. (2007).HPLC sugars separation system was prepared using an isocratic solvent mixture ofacetonitrile and water (80:20 v/v). Standard sugars solutions (0.5-80 mg/mL) were prepared

and a calibration curve having a linear regression factor (R 2 ) of 0.9985 was obtained.

2.5 Estimation of total phenolsFor total phenol content determination the Folin-Ciocalteu method was used. Thismethod is described for the firs time by Singleton and Rossi (1965) and modifiedfor honey samples by Marghitas et al. (2009) as follows: 5 g of honey were treated with50 mL of distilled water, mixed and filtered. 0.5 mL of this solution was mixedwith 2.5 mL Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (0.2 N) for five minutes and then 2 mL of Na2CO3

were added (75 g/L). All samples were incubated at room temperature in darkconditions for two hours; a calibration curve having linearity (R 2) of 0.9988 wasdeveloped using gallic acid (1 mg/mL) and further dilutions were done. The absorbancewas read at 760 nm and the blank solution containing methanol instead of honey wasused. The results are expressed as mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g.

2.6 Estimation of total flavonoidsA calibration curve (R 2 ¼ 0.9971) was made using concentrations of quercetine from1 to 120mg/mL and total flavonoids determination were developed following themethod of Kim et al. (2003), modified by Blasa et al. (2005) for honey sample.

Briefly, 1 mL of honey solution (1 mg/mL) was mixed with 0.3 mL NaNO2 (5 percent)for five minutes. 0.3 mL AlCl3 (10 percent) were added. After other six minutes thesolutions were neutralized with 2 mL NaOH (1 M). The absorbance was read at 510 nmand the results were expressed in mg quercetine equivalents (QE)/100 g of honey.

2.7 Antioxidant activityThe antioxidant activity (expressed like scavenging activity against2,2-diphenyl-1-hydrazyl-hydrate) (DPPH) was determined for heather honey samplesusing a method described by Meda et al. (2005).

Briefly, caffeic acid and vitamin E solution (0.65mg/mL) were used for positive control.The discoloration grade of 3 mL testing solution made by 2.5 mL DPPH (0.025 mg/mL) and0.5 mL honey solution (12.5 mg/mL) was registered spectrophotometrically at 517 nm,after 15 minutes from the solutions contacts.

The radical scavenging activity (RSA) (inhibition percent) was calculated as follows:percent Inhibition ¼ [(blank absorbance 2 sample absorbance)/blank absorbance]*100.

2.8 Mineral contentThe concentrations of Na, K, Mg, Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd weredetermined using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer with high resolution

NFS43,3

220

Su

gar

s(%

)

Geo

gra

ph

ical

area

from

Tra

nsy

lvan

ia(R

oman

ia)

Wat

erco

nte

nt

(g/

100

g)

Ele

ctri

cal

con

du

ctiv

ity

(mS

/cm

)

Ash

con

ten

t(%

)p

H

Fre

eac

idit

y(m

eq/

kg

)

Lac

ton

esac

idit

y(m

eq/k

g)

Tot

alac

idit

y(m

eq/

kg

)

HM

F(m

g/

kg

)F

ruct

ose

Glu

cose

Su

cros

eM

alto

seT

ura

nos

eT

reh

alos

eE

rlos

eIs

omal

tose

Fan

tan

ele

20.1

00.

720.

334.

2519

.32

10.2

129

.53

12.1

438

.64

31.0

50.

022.

612.

100.

820.

060.

84C

alat

ele

20.8

00.

660.

304.

2216

.39

10.7

727

.16

6.54

38.1

032

.64

0.02

2.50

2.31

0.78

0.43

0.83

Mar

isel

20.6

60.

580.

254.

3414

.98

10.4

225

.41

11.3

240

.26

35.5

00.

032.

181.

790.

680.

510.

70M

ean

20.5

20.

660.

294.

2716

.90

10.4

727

.37

10.0

039

.00

33.0

70.

022.

432.

070.

760.

330.

79S

D0.

370.

070.

040.

072.

210.

282.

073.

021.

122.

260.

010.

220.

260.

070.

240.

08

Notes:

Dat

are

pre

sen

tsth

eav

erag

eof

ten

sam

ple

sfr

omev

ery

geo

gra

ph

ical

area

;ev

ery

det

erm

inat

ion

was

mad

ein

trip

lica

te;

SD

–st

and

ard

dev

iati

on

Table I.Physico-chemical

parameters ofTransylvanianheather honey

Nutraceuticalproperties of

heather honey

221

continuum source. All mineral solutions were prepared by diluting the standards,using the method of Harmanescu et al. (2011).

For quality control all determinations were done in duplicate. The recoveries means(percent) were Na (98 percent), K (97 percent), Mg (99 percent), Ca (101 percent),Cu (103 percent), Zn (100 percent), Fe (93 percent), Mn (96 percent), Pb (94 percent), Cr,Ni (98 percent) and Cd (107 percent). Detection limits for each element were from 0.01 to0.50mg/g.

2.9 Statistical analysisAll experiments were repeated in triplicate, and the reported values were expressed asthe mean ^ standard deviation. Standard deviations and correlations were calculatedusing Microsoft Excelw.

3. Results and discussions3.1 Physico-chemical propertiesThe physico-chemical properties and sugar content are presented in Table I.

Council Directive 2001/110/EC related to honey includes general and specificcharacteristics to test the authenticity of botanical origin. This allows water content upto 23 g/100 g for heather honey and includes it in a group whose electrical conductivitycan pass beyond the 0.8 mS/cm.

The average of water content of analyzed samples was 20.52 percent, and theelectrical conductivity 0.66 mS/cm. These results are very similar with those obtainedby Dezmirean et al. (2010) when studying the Romanian heather honey. Bonvehi andTarres (1993) studied the Spanish heather honeys and found an average of watercontent of 17.40 percent and 0.81 mS/cm for electrical conductivity. To avoid the honeyfermentation during storage a low level of water content is important.

The mean ash content of heather honey was 0.29 percent, and we found normally amean of 0.66 mS/cm for electrical conductivity.

The pH values are not very different in heather honey and the average was4.27 ^ 0.07. Being quite acid, the analyzed samples have given values of total aciditybetween 25.41 and 29.53 meq/kg. This acidity is due to the presence of gluconic acidand gluconolactone, as reported by Bang et al. (2003).

Regarding the HMF content the heather honey presents a mean value of10.00 ^ 3.02 mg/kg, which is similar with that obtained by Was et al. (2011) for Polishheather honey. A high HMF content was observed in samples with a higher incidenceof free acidity. Unfortunately, the literature does not provide much data regarding thisaspect, only Persanno Oddo and Piro (2004) mentioned that this type of honey ischaracterized by a higher content of HMF related to a higher free acidity.

Sugars represent the main components of any type of honey and exists a lot ofprocedures to quantify them (Da Costa Leite et al., 2000), even if the Europeanregulation does not mentioned its.

The total content of glucose and fructose in analyzed samples was over 60 g/100 g forall heather honey, in accordance with EC Directive 110/2001; the results are very similarto those obtained by Bonvehi and Tarres (1993) for these two sugars. In the mean time,the same author reports values of trehalose, isomaltose and maltose higher than thatobtained for Transylvanian heather honeys. Anyway, the mean values obtained in thisstudy are quite similar with those obtained by Was et al. (2011) for Polish heather honey.

NFS43,3

222

3.2 Estimation of total phenolsTotal phenols quantification is very important since they are responsible for biologicalactivities of honey (Kucuk et al., 2007).

In Table II are presented the bioactive properties (the total phenols content, totalflavonoids and antioxidant activity) of heather honey. The values of total phenols inheather honey were between 51.00 and 56.7 mgGAE/100 g honey. The heather honeysare characterized by higher content of phenolic acids and smaller amounts offlavonoids (Andrade et al., 1997a, b).

The values obtained by as for heather honeys are quiet similar to those obtainedby Jasicka-Misiak et al. (2012), which reported values between 59.9 and76.2 mgGAE/100 g honey for Polish heather honey. Ferreira et al. (2009) reported amean value of 70.0 mgGAE/100 g for Portuguese heather honeys. Our results arein agreement with the results obtained by Beretta et al. (2005) for dark honeys(28.7-78.9 mgGAE/100 g).

3.3 Estimation of total flavonoidsFlavonoids are phenolic compounds represented by anthocyanidines, antocyanides,flavonoles, iso-flavonoles and flavones. Total flavonoids content of heather honey arepresented in Table II, and ranged between 20.6 and 110.8 mgQE/100 g of heatherhoney.

Some authors showed possible correlations between floral origin of honey andflavonoids profiles, and their role was already demonstrated (Al-Mamary et al., 2002;Yao et al., 2004).

A correlation between total phenols and total flavonoids content of heather honeysamples was calculated using the function CORREL from Microsoft Excelsoftware and a coefficient of 0.89 was obtained. This demonstrates that flavonoidscontent and phenolic content are strictly correlated, even if generally, the heatherhoneys are poor in flavonoids.

3.4 Antioxidant activity (RSA)The Romanian heather honey showed a scavenging activity between 49.0 and61 percent (Table II).

The DPPH radical scavenging test is the most used method for determinationof antioxidant activity. It has a high reproducibility, low cost and it can be madequickly.

Our results are very similar with those obtained by Saxena et al. (2010) when analyzedsome Indians honey and with those obtained by Beretta et al. (2005) for dark honeysamples.

Geographical area from Transylvania(Romania)a

Total phenols(mgGAE/100 g)

Total flavonoids(mgQE/100 g)

Antioxidant activity(%)

Fantanele 51.00 ^ 0.20 20.60 ^ 0.50 61.00 ^ 1.10Calatele 56.70 ^ 0.60 110.80 ^ 0.10 58.00 ^ 0.80Marisel 55.00 ^ 0.50 45.90 ^ 0.40 49.00 ^ 0.90Mean ^ SD 54.22 ^ 0.43 59.11 ^ 0.32 56.00 ^ 0.93

Note: aData represents the average of ten samples from every geographical area

Table II.The total phenols, total

flavonoids andantioxidant activity of

heather honey

Nutraceuticalproperties of

heather honey

223

3.5 Mineral contentsHeather honey is one of the richest types of honey in minerals. As mentioned by Wangand Li (2011) the minerals determination is a good procedure to establish thegeographical origin of honey and to differentiate the honey sorts.

The content of Na, K, Mg, Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd from Transylvanianheather honey is presented in Table III.

Similar results (except calcium content) regarding the heather honeyminerals content were obtained by Bonvehi and Tarres (1993) andFernandez-Torres et al. (2005) for Spanish heather honey. Except copper, the heatherhoney samples presented a mineral content in agreement with that reported byDezmirean et al. (2010) for Romanian heather honey harvested from other geographicalareas. The results shows that the heather honeys represent a good source of potassiumfor consumers.

4. ConclusionsIn this study, the main physico-chemical parameters, antioxidant properties andmineral contents of heather honey (Calluna vulgaris) from Transylvania (Romania)were studied in order to establish its main nutraceutical properties.

All 30 heather honeys samples, harvested from three different geographical areas,demonstrated physico-chemical parameters in accordance with European Directiveregarding honey composition. The total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant activitywere in accordance with results reported previously by other authors, demonstratingthe high quality of this sort of honey.

The mineral content determination showed that the heather honeys are a goodsource of mineral for consumers.

Since there are not exist a quality standard for this type of honey, further studies areconsiderate for standardization of Romanian heather honey.

Geographical area of harvestingMinerals (ppm) Fantanele Calatele Marisel

Na 72.24 ^ 1.33 56.27 ^ 0.80 49.52 ^ 1.79K 451.00 ^ 12.53 737.33 ^ 6.81 779.67 ^ 15.63Mg 10.21 ^ 0.82 10.02 ^ 0.27 10.29 ^ 0.33Ca 10.28 ^ 1.00 21.61 ^ 0.38 11.24 ^ 0.60Cu 1.63 ^ 0.39 1.97 ^ 0.07 0.71 ^ 0.14Zn 1.32 ^ 0.10 1.22 ^ 0.12 2.53 ^ 0.41Fe 5.02 ^ 0.03 3.69 ^ 0.42 5.53 ^ 0.29Mn 5.03 ^ 0.52 7.32 ^ 0.11 8.06 ^ 0.24Pb 0.02 ^ 0.02 ND NDCr ND ND NDNi ND ND NDCd ,0.15 ,0.15 ,0.15

Notes: Data are means ^ SD of duplicate measurements of each element for every sample andreported values represent the average of ten samples from every geographical area; ND – not detected

Table III.Mineral content ofheather honeys fromTransylvania

NFS43,3

224

References

Al-Mamary, M., Al-Meeri, A. and Al-Habori, M. (2002), “Antioxidant activities and totalphenolics of different types of honey”, Nutrition Research, Vol. 22 No. 9, pp. 1041-1047.

Andrade, P., Ferreres, F. and Amaral, M.T. (1997a), “Analysis of honey phenolic acids by HPLC,its application to honey botanical characterization”, Journal of Liquid Chromatographyand Related Technology, Vol. 20 No. 14, pp. 2281-2288.

Andrade, P., Ferreres, F., Gil, M. and Tomas-Barberan, F.A. (1997b), “Determination of phenoliccompounds in honey with different floral origin by capillary zone electrophoresis”, FoodChemistry, Vol. 60, pp. 79-84.

Bang, L.M., Buntting, C. and Mollan, P. (2003), “The effect of dilution on the rate of hydrogenperoxide production in honey and its implications for wound healing”, The Journal ofAlternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 267-273.

Beretta, G., Granata, P., Ferrero, M., Orioli, M. and Facino, R.M. (2005), “Standardization ofantioxidant properties of honey by a combination of spectrophotometric/fluorimetricassays and chemometrics”, Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol. 533, pp. 185-191.

Blasa, M., Candiracci, M., Accorsi, A., Piacentini, P.M., Albertini, M.C. and Piatti, E. (2005), “RawMillefiori honey is packed full of antioxidants”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 97, pp. 217-222.

Bogdanov, S., Martin, P. and Lullmann, C. (1997), “Harmonized methods of the InternationalHoney Commission”, Apidologie, Vol. 28, Extra Issue, pp. 1-59.

Bonta, V., Marghitas, L.Al., Bobis, O. and Dezmirean, D. (2007), “HPLC sugar profile in qualityand authenticity determination of Romanian honey”, Apiculture – From Science toAgribusiness and Apitherapy, Acadmic Press, Cluj-Napoca, pp. 58-63.

Bonvehi, S.J. and Tarres, G.E. (1993), “Physicochemical properties, composition and pollenspectrum of ling heather (Calluna vulgaris (L) Hull) honey produced in Spain”, Apidologie,Vol. 24, pp. 586-596.

Bordean, D.M., Gergen, I., Harmanescu, M., Pirvulescu, L., Butur, M. and Rujescu, C.I. (2010),“Mathematical model for environment contamination risk evaluation”, Journal of FoodAgriculture & Environment, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 1054-1057.

Cordella, C., Milita, J., Cleament, M.C. and Cabrol-Bass, D. (2003), “Honey characterization andadulteration detection by pattern recognition applied on HPAEC-PAD profiles. 1. Honey floralspecies characterization”, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 51, pp. 3234-3242.

Da Costa Leite, J.M., Trugo, L.C., Costa, L.S.M., Quinteiro, L.M.C., Barth, O.M., Dutra, V.M.L. andDe Maria, C.A.B. (2000), “Determination of oligosaccharides in Brazilian honeys ofdifferent botanical origin”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 70, pp. 93-98.

Dezmirean, D., Marghitas, L.Al., Bobis, O., Stan, L., Bonta, V., Maghear, O., Dinita, G. and Morar, O.(2010), “Physical-chemical attributes and mineral content of heather honey (Calluna vulgaris)”,Bulletin UASVM Animal Science and Biotechnologies, Vol. 67 Nos 1/2, pp. 163-168.

Fernandez-Torres, R., Perez-Bernal, J., Bell-Lopez, A., Callejon-Mochon, M., Jimenez-Sanchez, J.C.and Giuraum-Perez, A. (2005), “Mineral content and botanical origin of Spanish honeys”,Talanta, Vol. 65, pp. 686-691.

Ferreira, I.C.F.R., Airea, E., Barreira, J.C.M. and Estevinho, L.M. (2009), “Antioxidant activity ofPortuguese honey samples: different contributions of the entire honey and phenolicextract”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 114 No. 4, pp. 1438-1443.

Gonzalez-Miret, M.L., Terrab, A., Hernanz, D., Fernandez-Recamales, M.A. and Heredia, F.J.(2005), “Multivariate correlation between color and mineral composition of honeys and bytheir botanical origin”, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 53 No. 7,pp. 2574-2580.

Nutraceuticalproperties of

heather honey

225

Harmanescu, M., Alda, L.M., Bordean, D.M., Gogoasa, I. and Gergen, I. (2011), “Heavy metalshealth risk assessment for population via consumption of vegetables grown in old miningarea; a case study: Banat County Romania”, Chemistry Central Journal, Vol. 5, pp. 64-73.

Jasicka-Misiak, I., Poliwoda, A. and Deren, P. (2012), “Phenolic compounds and abscisic acid aspotential markers for the floral origin of two Polish unifloral honeys”, Food Chemistry,Vol. 131, pp. 1149-1156.

Kim, D.-O., Jeong, S.W. and Lee, C.Y. (2003), “Antioxidant capacity of phenolic phytochemicalsfrom various cultivars of plums”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 81, pp. 321-326.

Kucuk, M., Kolayh, S., Karaoglu, S., Ulusoy, E., Baltaci, C. and Candan, F. (2007), “Biologicalactivities and chemical composition of three honeys of different types from Anatolia”,Food Chemistry, Vol. 100, pp. 526-534.

Kumarasamy, Y., Cox, P.J., Jaspars, M., Nahar, L. and Sarker, S.D. (2002), “Screening seeds ofScottish plants for antibacterial activity”, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Vol. 83 Nos 1/2,pp. 73-77.

Marghitas, L.Al. (2005), Albinele si produsele lor, 2nd ed., Ceres Education, Bucharest.

Marghitas, L.Al., Dezmirean, D., Moise, A., Bobis, O., Laslo, L. and Bogdanov, S. (2009),“Physico-chemical and bioactive properties of different floral origin honeys fromRomania”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 863-867.

Mato, I., Huidobro, J.F., Simal-Lozano, J. and Sancho, M.T. (2003), “Significance of nonaromaticorganic acids in honey”, Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 66 No. 12, pp. 2371-2376.

Meda, A., Lamien, C., Romito, M., Millago, J. and Nacoulma, O. (2005), “Determination of totalphenolic, flavonoid and proline contents in Burkina Fasan honey, as well as their radicalscavenging activity”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 91, pp. 571-577.

Monschein, M., Iglesias Neira, J., Kunert, O. and Bucar, F. (2010), “Phytochemistry of heather(Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull) and its altitudinal alteration”, Phytochemistry Reviews, Vol. 9,pp. 205-215.

Persanno Oddo, L. and Piro, R. (2004), “Main European unifloral honeys descriptive sheets”,Apidologie, Vol. 35, pp. 38-81.

Pisani, A., Protano, G. and Riccobono, F. (2008), “Minor and trace elements in different honeytypes produced in Siena Country (Italy)”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 107, pp. 1553-1560.

Saxena, S., Gautam, S. and Sharma, A. (2010), “Physical, biochemical and antioxidant propertiesof some Indian honeys”, Food Chemistry, Vol. 118, pp. 391-397.

Sevlimli, H., Bayulgen, N. and Varinlioglu, A. (1992), “Determination of trace elements in honeyby INAA in Turkey”, Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 165,pp. 319-325.

Singleton, V.L. and Rossi, J.A. (1965), “Colorimetry of total phenolics withphosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagents”, American Journal of Enology andViticulture, Vol. 16, pp. 144-158.

Wang, J. and Li, Q.X. (2011), “Chemical composition, characterization, and differentiation ofhoney botanical and geographical origins”, Advances in Food and Nutrition Research,Vol. 62, pp. 90-137 (edited by S.L. Taylor).

Was, E., Rybac-Chmielewska, H., Szczesna, T., Kachaniuk, K. and Teper, D. (2011),“Characteristics of Polish unifloral honeys. III. Heather honey (Calluna vulgaris L.)”,Journal of Apicultural Science, Vol. 1 No. 55, pp. 129-137.

Yao, L., Jiang, Y., Singanusong, R., D’Arcy, B., Datta, N. and Caffin, N. (2004), “Flavonoid inAustralian Malaleuca, Guioa, Lophostemon, Banksia and Helianthus honeys and theirpotential for floral authentication”, Food Research International, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 166-174.

NFS43,3

226

About the authorsAdela Moise is postdoc researcher and a PhD since 2006. She is involved in several researchprojects regarding the quality of Romanian honey, performing in the Laboratory of Bee ProductsControl all physico-chemical analyses for honey properties determination. She is specialized inresidues control in honey, especially antibiotics.

Alexandru Marghitas Liviu is the head of the Laboratory of Bee Products Control and of theDepartment of Beekeeping and Sericulture, directly involved in coordinating the laboratory workof researchers and PhD. In the laboratory he is specialized in liquid chromatographydeterminations. Alexandru Marghitas Liviu is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:lmarghitas@gmail.com

Daniel Dezmirean is Lecturer in the Department of Apiculture and Sericulture and is involvedin research work of the laboratory, making systematically determinations of quality and honeyproperties.

Otilia Bobis is responsible for quality control in the Laboratory of Bee Products Control. Fromseveral years handling the biologically active properties of bee products and nutraceuticalproperties of different varieties of honey. She is involved in all research projects team.

Nutraceuticalproperties of

heather honey

227

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.comOr visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints