Abstract:In this study, the spectrophotometric method was used to determine the total phenolic acid contents, total flavonoid contents and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of 10 kinds of honey. Their antioxidant activities were evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging capacity and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The results showed the contents of the total phenolic acids and flavonoids in the 10 kinds of honey were 116.16~2 133.33 mg PCA/kg and 8.31~120.81 mg QUE/kg, respectively. The IC50 values of DPPH honey samples were 16.25~674.22 mg/mL. The FRAP values were 0.50~7.39 mmol Fe2+/kg. The IC50 values of tyrosinase inhibition were 9.15~350.26 mg/mL. The buckwheat honey exhibited a significantly higher DPPH radical scavenging ability (16.25 to 45.83 mg/mL), FRAP (3.21 to 7.39 mmol Fe2+/kg) and tyrosinase inhibitory activity (9.14 to 14.16 mg/mL), compared with other kinds of honey (p<0.05). The antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of honey were significantly correlated with the contents of total phenolic acids and flavonoids in honey (p<0.05). This study provides a basis for the development of honey-based functional products.
