Pharmacological activities, chemical profile, and physicochemical properties of raw and commercial honey

This study was designed to evaluate and correlate the pharmacological, phytochemical, and physicochemical properties of raw unifloral Mauritian eucalyptus honey (EH) and a commercially available honey (CH). The pharmacological activity was evaluated in terms of antibacterial, antioxidant (nitric oxide scavenging), antielastase, antityrosinase, antimelanogenic, and anticancer activity (MCF-7 and HeLa cell toxicity). The presence of phytochemicals including alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, phenols, anthraquinones, and steroids were determined along with the total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid (TFC), and tannin content (TC). Physicochemical properties including the pH, colour, total soluble solids, and density were also investigated. The results showed that EH displayed greater antibacterial, antioxidant, and anticancer activity against the MCF-7 cell line compared to CH, which also showed higher extracellular antimelanogenic activity. MH (IC50 = 532.75 μg/ml) displayed significantly greater scavenging activity than CH (IC50 = 647.6 μg/ml). To conclude, honey may be potentially exploited as complementary and alternative therapies for the management of infectious and chronic diseases.