**7. Phenolic profile of honey**

Regions characterized by a hot and humid climate with very high exposure to sunlight (as in northeast Brazil) are particularly known to exert a marked influence on the poly‐ phenolic content of plants. Sun‐exposed plants such as juazeiro (*Ziziphus joazeiro* Mart.) can contain much more total phenolics than the same varieties or other when grown in the shady locations [53].

Assays made with honey collected in the central and southern region of Amazonas state in Brazil found that total phenolic content of methanolic extracts from the honey samples ranged from 17.0 to 66.0 mg galic acid equivalent (GAE)/g of extract and also high antioxidant pro‐ file. Gallic, 3,4‐dihydroxybenzoic, 4‐hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, salicylic, syringic, coumaric, trans,trans‐abscisic, cis,trans‐abscisic and cinnamic acids, catechol and flavonoids, taxifolin, naringenin and luteolin were identified. Concentrations ranged from 0.02 to 67.0 mg/mL of extracts, variating with the sample [54].

Brazilian honeys from the semiarid region, which were composed of 24 monofloral hon‐ eys produced by *Meliponini*, native species of bee, were found to present strong antioxidant activity. The total phenolic content varied from 0.31 to 1.26 mg GAE/g with differences (p ≤ 0.05) among samples from distinct floral sources. The scavenging activity of DPPH radi‐ cals varied from 11.2 ± 1.3% to 46.9 ± 1.9%. Phenolic compounds p‐coumaric, ellagic and 3,4‐hydroxybenzoic acid and the flavonoids rutin, catechin, chrysin and naringenin were detected in higher amounts in *Ziziphus joazeiro* Mart. honeys than in the other honeys pro‐ duced by the same bee species [40].

Fifty eight polyfloral honey samples, from different regions in Serbia, were studied to deter‐ mine their phenolic profile, total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. It was reported that the phenolic content ranged from 0.03 to 1.39 mg GAE/g and the radical scavenging activity of DPPH radicals ranged from 1.31 to 25.61% [44], an antioxidant capacity lower than that found in honey from high sunlight incidence regions.

All these studies found strong correlation between total phenolic content or total flavonoid content and radical inhibition capacity, indicating that phenolics and flavonoids are the pri‐ mary factors responsible for the antioxidant properties of the studied honeys. Consequently, these results reinforce the influence of the botanical source on honey antioxidant properties.

Honey phenolic composition is not predictable, since it is highly related with the flora where honeybees collected nectar. Thus, the profile of phenolic compounds can be used to deter‐ mine honey flora origin. For instance, a study in honeys produced in arid regions in northeast Brazil showed a high quantity of rutin in honeys from *Ziziphus spina‐christi*, suggesting that it is a marker in honeys from the *Ziziphus* species [40]. Samples originated from Vojvodina and Zlatibor regions were clearly distinguished from those from the rest of Serbia because of the presence of dicaffeoylquinic acid, ellagic acid, caffeic acid phenethyl ester and chlorogenic acid, among others [45].
