Determination of individual phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity in honey wine produced from spontaneous fermentation and pollen addition
honey, additives, bee pollen, phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity
The study evaluated the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in mead produced from the São Francisco River Valley honey. Six different mead wort were elaborated using different additives and yeasts, natural and commercial ones. The determination of the total phenolic content was measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent method, while the phenolic profile was defined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The antioxidant capacity was established by the DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays. The content of total phenolic compounds varied widely, ranging from 228,55 and 749,13 mg GAE L-1 (p≤0,05). Seventeen compounds were identified among phenolic acids, flavonols and flavanols. The samples antioxidant activity values were consistent with the results of the total phenolic content. According to the principal component analysis (PCA), the mead samples differed due to the addition of bee pollen, indicating a strong correlation (p≤0,05) between the phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity assays applied. The results of this study demonstrate that the use of bee pollen as an additive had a significant impact on phenolic content and antioxidant capacity, contributing to the quality of meads.