Honey is a bee product with a very complex composition. The biggest part is carbohydrates, water 17-18% and trace amounts of some other substances. It has an antioxidant effect because it contains polyphenols, and it has an anti-inflammatory effect on our body. The quantity of polyphenols also changes the sensory properties of honey (color, smell, taste, aroma). The composition of polyphenols in honey depends on plant sources and can be used as a fingerprint of honey.
In my master thesis I developed a method to determine phenols in honey. I developed the method for isolation and enrichment of phenols, first on pure solutions of standards and then in a synthetic honey matrix. I used sucrose solution as synthetic honey matrix to which I added standards. Phenol determination was performed by solid phase extraction (Oasis HLB) and separation by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C18 column. The identification was performed with a diode array detector (DAD). With the developed method nine phenolic compounds can be analyzed (gallic acid, 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, vanillic acid, (-)-epicatechin, p-coumaric acid, synaptic acid, quercetin, ellagic acid).
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