Antioxidants: from Blossom to bee to body

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NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT Vitamins, Minerals, and More

NOT ALL HONEYS are created equal, recent ­research shows. University of Illinois scientists have found that honey created from nectar collected from Illinois buckwheat flowers has twenty times more antioxidant content than honey produced by bees that eat the nectar of California sage. Clover honey scored in the middle.

Researchers analyzed nineteen samples of honey from fourteen different floral sources. Given antioxidants’ health benefits, researchers concluded that source flowers should be considered when evaluating honey’s antioxidant potential.

The research was recently published in the Journal of Apicultural Research. Researchers were May Berenbaum, head of the University of Illinois entomology department; Gene E. Robinson, director of the school’s bee research facility; and plant biology graduate student Steven M. Frankel.

“We’re not proposing that honey can replace fruits and vegetables,” Berenbaum says, “but we are suggesting that honey could replace sugar in a lot of contexts. Sucrose, or table sugar, is totally devoid of antioxidant phytochemicals, and replacing sucrose with honey might be an improvement in total dietary intake of antioxidants.”

Antioxidants eliminate free radicals in the human body. Free radicals are created through the process of metabolism and are believed to contribute to several serious diseases when left unchecked, says Sue Percival, an associate professor in the University of Florida Food Science and Human Nutrition Department.

So, what kind of honey should one buy to get the maximum benefit? Berenbaum stresses that human diet studies have yet to be done. “But I can tell you what I would do, personally,” she adds. “Stick with buckwheat honey, which has an extremely high an­tioxidant content relative to other honeys.”

The study also showed a relationship between color and antioxidant content, although this is only a correlation, Berenbaum says.

“In general, darker honeys will be higher in antioxidant content than lighter honeys,” she says, “but not every dark honey is higher than every light honey.”

The scientists’ report concludes that certain one-flower honeys may make a unique contribution as “a palatable supplementary source of plant ­antioxidants.” In other words, some kinds of honey may help supplement the diets of people who don’t eat enough fruits and veggies.

Other sweet benefits

HONEY CONTAINS trace amounts of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, including vitamin B6, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc, says Sue Percival, an associate professor in the University of Florida Food Science and Human Nutrition Department.

Percival recently completed a review of literature on the nutritional benefits of honey.

“Honey has more nutrients than table sugar,” she says. “There are not huge quantities, but they are there. It’s better than having none at all,” which is what regular table sugar has—none.

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