Abstract
Total antioxidant activity, physicochemical parameters, and the profile of flavonoids and phenolic acid
compounds were evaluated for: their ability to distinguish between the botanical origins of four types
of Spanish honey, the impact of industrial thermal treatment, and the effect of the year of collection. Citrus
honey had the lowest levels of all the analysed variables, then rosemary and polyfloral, and honeydew
the highest ones. Botanical origin affects the profile of flavonoids and phenolic compounds sufficiently to
permit discrimination thanks to the predominance of particular compounds such as: hesperetin (in citrus
honey); kaempferol, chrysin, pinocembrin, caffeic acid and naringenin (in rosemary honey) and myricetin,
quercetin, galangin and particularly p-coumaric acid (in honeydew honey). The impact of industrial
thermal treatments is lower than the expected variability as a consequence of the year of collection,
though neither factor has enough influence to alter these constituent compounds to the point of affecting
the discrimination of honey by botanical origin.
