Antioxidant and sensorial properties of linden honey with dried apricots.

The total phenol (TPh) and flavonoid contents (TFd), and antioxidant and sensorial properties of linden honey (LH) with dried apricots (20, 30, and 40%) were evaluated. TPh increased 4.3 times for LH40 (from 23.96 to 102.87 mg gallic acid equiv./100 g honey), while increase of TFd was slightly lower, ca. 2.9-fold for LH40 (from 18.11 to 51.72 mg rutin equiv./100 g honey). Based on HPLC analysis, the most dominant phenolic compound was gallic acid (11.14 mg/100 g honey in LH and 42.65 mg/100 g honey in LH40). In three different assays, the antioxidant activity increased with increasing concentration of apricots in honey. The values varied from 13.36 for LH to 7.06 mg/ml for LH40; the values ranged from 189.83 for LH to 11.23 mg/ml for LH40; the RP0.5 (reducing power) values ranged from 169.00 for LH to 27.60 mg/ml for LH40. Based on the correlation analysis, it is obvious that TPh and TFd were associated with the antioxidant activities of honey samples. A high degree of correlation existed between antioxidant activities of honey samples and TPh (R from 0.945 to 0.996) and TFd (R from 0.805 to 0.934). Obtained scores for individual sensory properties indicated very good quality of honey with dried apricots.