Antioxidant, Antiinflammatory and Antimutagenic
Activities of Various Kinds of Turkish Honey
Hande SIPAHI°,*, Gamze AYDOŠAN*, Sinem HELVACIOŠLU*,
Mohammad CHAREHSAZ*, Etil GUZELMERIC**, Ahmet AYDIN*
* Yeditepe University Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Toxicology, 34755/ Istanbul, Turkey.
** Yeditepe University Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, 34755/ Istanbul, Turkey
° Corresponding Author;
Tel: +90 216 578 00 00 (3371)
Fax: +90 216 578 00 68
E-mail: handesipahi@hotmail.com, hande.sipahi@yeditepe.edu.tr
Summary
Honey is used as an essential nutrient since ancient times and
considered as a part of traditional folk medicine. In this study,
a comparative study was carried out to assess antioxidant, antiinflammatory
and antimutagenic activities of six varieties of
honey from different botanical and geographical region. According
to the results, thyme and unbranded multifloral honey showed the
highest antioxidant activity. All of the honey samples inhibited
the LPS induced inflammation significantly at 200 mg/ml.
Moreover, thyme and branded chestnut honey nearly neutralized
the LPS effect. Ames test results showed no great differences
between samples and the honey extracts with doses of 10 and 50
mg/plate were found to have a weak antimutagenic activity with
or without S9 activation. The results of this study demonstrated
that all honey samples showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
activity although having different composition, botanical origin
and processing. Accordingly, daily consumption of any kind of
honey may be suggested to protect the body against the harmful
effects of free radicals and oxidative stress related diseases.
Key Words :
Honey, folk medicine, antioxidant,
antiinflammatory, antimutagenic
