Total phenolic acids and flavonoid contents determination in Yemeni honey of various floral sources: Folin-Ciocalteu and spectrophotometric approach

Twenty-nine Yemeni honey samples were analyzed to determine total phenolic and flavonoid contents using Folin-Ciocalteu and spectrophotometric technique. These tested honey samples were collected from different regions corresponding to various floral species: jujube, cactus and multifloral plants. Folin-Ciocalteu method was adopted for the analysis of total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Gallic acid and quercetin were considered as the best standards as the spectrophotometric response of these compounds are equivalent to most other phenolic acids and flavonoid compounds, respectively. The obtained results of honey samples were in a wide range; the highest phenolic acid concentration was obtained for honey produced from cactus, while the lowest value corresponded to monofloral honey from jujube. On the other hand, a broad variation was also observed in total flavonoid content; the highest value was obtained for honey collected from cactus area (S-4) and the lowest value was found in honey produced from multifloral plants (A(1)).