PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF HONEY BEE PRODUCTS IN SOUTH ALGERIA

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to characterize the physical, biochemical and antioxidant properties of south Algeria honey samples (n = 5). Physical parameters, such as pH, moisture content, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, color intensity, total sugar content were measured. Several biochemical and antioxidant tests were performed to determine the antioxidant properties of the honey samples. The mean pH was 4.54, and moisture content was 14.88 %. The mean electrical conductivity was 0.597 mS∙cm-1, and the mean total dissolved solid was 0.14 % and the mean color was 163.6 mm Pfund. The mean total sugar contents was 82.76 %. High mean values of phenolic and flavonoid contents were respectively 697.22 mg GAE∙kg-1 and 290.70 mgREE∙kg-1. Antioxidant activity was also measured using DPPH assays, value of 26.19 mg∙mL-1 was detected for south Algeria (El-Oued) honey