Polyfloral honey from urban beekeeping: two-year case study of polyphenols profile and antioxidant activity

Abstract

Purpose

Urban beekeeping is spreading as an answer to promote bee conservation and to develop local economies. This study aims to highlight nutritional properties of polyfloral honeys produced in urban landscape and to compare them to the countryside counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

This research has examined polyfloral urban honeys from a restricted area in Central Italy, for antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content and 15 polyphenols profile. Physicochemical parameters have been also determined to assess the overall quality of the samples. Results were compared with polyfloral honeys produced in surrounding countryside and monitored in two harvest years, 2018 and 2019. Principal component analysis was applied to the data to disclose significant differences among honeys and harvest years.

Findings

Urban honeys revealed up to threefold higher total amount of polyphenols with respect to rural honeys, and in the 2019 harvest, despite water scarcity that affected the national production, demonstrated 50% higher antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. The majority of the 15 polyphenols studied resulted in more abundant urban honeys, in particular in the 2019 harvest. The multivariate analysis evidenced how honeys could be successfully separated according to their production area and harvest year by their different polyphenols profile.

Originality/value

Limited data are available on nutritional properties of urban honeys and on their content in antioxidants. The present results suggest that the cultivated urban environment, with its large floral biodiversity, can provide extra nutrition for bees, resulting in the production of a honey rich in nutraceutical compounds.

Citation

Preti, R. and Tarola, A.M. (2021), "Polyfloral honey from urban beekeeping: two-year case study of polyphenols profile and antioxidant activity", British Food Journal, Vol. 123 No. 12, pp. 4224-4239. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2020-0839