A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> The goals of the current study were to address a new concept termed a health benefits' index (HBI) and to verify the type of correlation between the pricing of honey and its HBI/medicinal properties. Diverse types of honey from different origins and places were investigated for their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. <b>Methods:</b> We have utilized a modified protocol of the DPPH assay for measuring free radical scavenging and the microdilution test for the determination of antibacterial/antifungal minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). MICs were determined against <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Salmonella typhimurium</i>, and <i>Candida albicans</i> microorganisms. Employing a "combined benefits approach" enabled us to attach to each honey type a unique number of HBI that correlate with honey health and medicinal values. <b>Results:</b> The various types of honey demonstrated significant but variable antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal activities. Types of wildflower-labeled honey were found to have a wide range of HBI values and medicinal properties, probably due to their containing different nectar contents/phytochemicals. Moreover, an inconsiderable correlation was detected between the market prices of different types of honey and their HBIs. <b>Conclusions:</b> The proposed index of health benefits could be recalculated/updated following measurement of more and more medicinal properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer activities. This index could be used as an effective tool for consumers of honey to evaluate the real value of the purchased product.