Honeys derived from plants of the coastal sandplains of Western Australia: antibacterial and antioxidant activity, and other characteristics

Honeys produced by Apis mellifera from different flowering plants can vary widely in their characteristics. Some floral sources yield honeys with especially high antibacterial and/or antioxidant activity, which may be candidates for further evaluation as therapeutic agents. This study investigated 115 honeys harvested from three Western Australian coastal bioregions: the Swan coastal plain, Geraldton sandplains and Dampierland. Honeys were derived from a range of floral sources, including Agonis, Banksia, Calothamnus, Callistemon, Eucalyptus, Leptospermum and Melaleuca, and several multifloral honeys including wildflower honey were also included. HPTLC fingerprinting was used to analyse the phenolics fractions of all honeys and fingerprints were analysed to attempt to verify the floral source of each honey. Typical fingerprints were discernible for the four honeys derived from Agonis flexuosa, Banksia sessilis, Banksia menziesii and Calothamnus. Antibacterial and anti-oxidant activity was quantified for all honeys and showed that Calothamnus honeys had the highest activity for both, and also contained the highest levels of phenolics. Hydrogen peroxide, colour and water content were also determined. Data obtained for all 115 honeys were analysed by principal component analysis to investigate broad trends, and showed that colour, total phenolics and antioxidant activity correlated strongly, whereas antibacterial activity was not strongly correlated with any other factors. Data obtained for individual floral sources were analysed by one-way analysis of variance and revealed significant differences between some honey types, supporting the hypothesis that honeys derived from different floral sources vary in important characteristics such as antibacterial and antioxidant activity.

由西方蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）采集自不同显花植物所酿造的蜂蜜，其品质特征存在显著差异。部分蜜源植物所产的蜂蜜，其抗菌与/或抗氧化活性尤为突出，这类蜂蜜有望作为治疗制剂开展进一步评估。本研究对采自澳大利亚西部三个沿海生物区系的115份蜂蜜样品展开了分析，分别为天鹅沿海平原（Swan coastal plain）、杰拉尔顿沙原（Geraldton sandplains）以及丹皮尔兰（Dampierland）；本次研究的蜂蜜样品源自多种蜜源植物，涵盖柳香桃木属（Agonis）、班克木属（Banksia）、须叶木属（Calothamnus）、红千层属（Callistemon）、桉树属（Eucalyptus）、细子木属（Leptospermum）以及白千层属（Melaleuca），同时还纳入了包括野花蜂蜜在内的多花蜂蜜样品。本研究采用高效薄层色谱（HPTLC）指纹图谱技术对所有蜂蜜样品的酚类组分进行分析，并通过解析指纹图谱尝试验证每份蜂蜜的蜜源植物来源，针对取自垂柳柳香桃木（Agonis flexuosa）、滨班克木（Banksia sessilis）、芒斯特班克木（Banksia menziesii）以及须叶木属（Calothamnus）的四类蜂蜜，可识别出典型的特征指纹图谱。研究对所有蜂蜜样品的抗菌与抗氧化活性进行了定量检测，结果显示须叶木属蜂蜜的两项活性均为最高，同时其酚类物质含量也处于所有样品之首；此外还测定了过氧化氢含量、色泽以及水分含量。本研究采用主成分分析（Principal Component Analysis）对115份蜂蜜的全部检测数据进行整体趋势分析，结果表明色泽、总酚类物质含量与抗氧化活性三者之间存在显著相关性，而抗菌活性则与其余各项检测指标均无明显关联；针对单一蜜源来源的蜂蜜数据，研究采用单因素方差分析（one-way analysis of variance）进行解析，结果显示部分蜂蜜类型间存在显著差异，这一结果验证了“不同蜜源植物所产蜂蜜在抗菌、抗氧化活性等关键品质特征上存在差异”的假说。