Investigating the antioxidant and physicochemical properties honeys from Mazandaran province in comparison to commercial samples

Honey has been in the interest of mankind for a long time due to its favorable nutritional, medicinal and organoleptic properties. The reputation, price and high demand for this complex matrix of nutrients with antioxidant properties have increased the possibility of adulteration. In this study, 12 samples of natural honey were collected from the farms of Mazandaran province, and their physicochemical and antioxidant properties were compared with 12 commercial honey samples purchased from market in Sari. Honey samples were compared in terms of pH, acidity, moisture, and ash content, electrical conductivity, hydroxymethyl furfural, sucrose content, glucose, fructose, fructose to glucose ratio, refractive index, viscosity, content of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. The results showed that in terms of average pH, acidity, total phenol, moisture, electrical conductivity and ash, almost all natural and commercial samples were within the standard range. The sucrose content and hydroxymethylfurfural in none of the commercial samples was within the standard range. Only three natural honey samples had sucrose content less than 5%. Ten samples of natural honey had less than 40 % hydroxymethylfurfural. Although total reducing sugars in natural and commercial honey samples had no statistically significant difference (p<0.05), all of the natural honey samples and three commercial honey samples had fructose to glucose ratio higher than 0.9. Considering the lower quality of commercial honeys, it is suggested that the inspection organizations pay more attention to the production units of this product.