Polyphenolic profile, and antioxidant and antifungal activities of honey products in Benin

The aim of this study was to characterize polyphenolic compounds, antifungal and antioxidant activities of polyfloral honey collected from three different phytogeographical zones in Benin duing dry and rainy seasons. Spectrophotometrically at 517 nm, DPPH scavenging activity of tested samples was measured, while antifungal activity, total polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannins were evaluted by Dohou, Singleton and Zhishen methods, and a slightly modified method of Sun, respectively. Results revealed that only season has significant influence (P <0.05) on the flavonoids content and total phenols. The highest total phenols (781 ± 46 µgGAE/gs) and flavonoids (528 ± 31 µgCE/g) contents were obtained respectively from honey samples of the rainy and dry seasons. The samples collected in the rainy season in the three zones, have better antifungal activity than those collected in the dry season. The lowest IC50 recorded was 27.58 ± 4.44 μg.µl-1 which showed that the highest antioxidant activity can be found in honey samples of the rainy season collected from the Sudanian zone. Overall, this study confirms that all investigated honey samples were good sources of polyphenolic compounds, and exhibit antifungal and antioxidant actvities.   Keywords: Antifungal, antiioxidant, honey, Benin.