Determination of Flavonoids, Phenolic Acids and Abscisic Acid in Honeys of Different Floral Origins by HPLC

Flavonoids(rutin,myricetin,quercetin,naringenin,luteolin,keampferol and apigenin),phenolic acids(gallic acid,catechin,caffeic acid,α-catechin,p-coumaric acid,ferulic acid and 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acid) and abscisic acid in honeys of different floral origins(lichee honey,longan honey,loquat honey,linden honey,date honey,lenourus honey,osmanthus honey,and Chinese milk vetch honey) were analyzed by HPLC-PDA.There were significant differences in the contents of abscisic acid among different samples.Abscisic acid content was ranged from 16.4 μg/100 g(osmanthus honey) to 1321.9 μg/100 g(lichee honey).Total phenolic contents of eight honey samples varied from 325.3 to 2260.8 μg/100 g honey.Among them,keampferol was be detected only in longan honey,loquat honey,lichee honey,date honey and Chinese milk vetch honey.Lichee honey contained the highest amount of ferulic acid,myricetin and quercetin.However,α-catechin was the main component in loquat honey.Longan honey contained a considerable amount of 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acid,p-coumaric acid and luteolin.These results show that the profile of flavonoids,phenolic acids and abscisic acid could be used for authenticating the floral origin of a honey sample.