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Antioxidants, which are the most active bioactive compounds in honey, play an important role in protecting living organisms against oxidative stress and prevent the occurrence of various chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. In this study, the physicochemical, nutritional, and bioactive properties of cedar and citrus honey from the north, south of Iran were investigated in comparison with commercial samples. The results showed the free acidity for all honey samples examined was lower than the maximum permitted free acidity, indicating the absence of undesirable fermentation in them. All honey samples showed an electrical conductivity of less than 0.8 mS/cm, which was in accordance with the national standard of Iran. Also, the hydroxymethylfurfural of northern citrus honey, cedar and southern citrus honey, commercial 1 and commercial 2 were 15.94, 20.1, 25.63, 38.2 and 45.61 mg/kg, respectively, with commercial sample 2 exceeding the maximum accepted standard. There was a significant difference between the diastase activity levels of all samples except for cedar and southern citrus honey (p<0.05). Also, the proline of cedar and southern and northern citrus honey, commercial honey 1 and commercial honey 2 were 578.8, 381.43, 492.27, 225.5 and 185.1 mg/kg, respectively. The highest redness and lowest brightness belonged to the cedar honey. The highest brightness belonged to the northern citrus honey. The results of the antioxidant properties also showed that cedar honey had the highest phenolic compounds with 93.09 mg/100 g, followed by southern citrus honey (61.06 mg/100g), northern citrus honey (43.18 mg/100g), commercial honey 1 (22.94 mg/100g), and commercial honey 2 (15.72 mg/100g). The high phenolic and flavonoid compounds in cedar, southern and northern citrus honeys led to their high antioxidant acivity. At 50 mg/ml, the highest DPPH free radical inhibition which indicated antioxidant activity was related to cedar honey (47.1%) and the lowest was related to commercial honey 2 (16.3%), which was consistent with the results of the FRAP. The results of pesticide residue assessment also showed that diazinon was detected in all samples, and its highest concentration was observed in commercial samples. Carbaryl was not detectable in the northern citrus honey, but was significantly high in commercial samples.
Pymetrozine in natural shouthern citrus, northern citrus and cedar honey were 44, 53 and 28 µg/L and methiocarb was 95, 38 and 143 µg/L, respectively, but in commercial samples they had higher concentrations. Natural samples due to the lower use of pesticides, are at a more desirable level in terms of food safety. Therefore, the natural honeys studied, especially cedar, have a significant advantage over commercial samples in terms of nutritional quality, antioxidant activity, and biosafety and can be considered as a suitable option for the production and supply of premium honeys in the domestic and export markets.
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