Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity from acidified and non-acidified ethyl acetate extract of acacia, tualang and gelam honey / Siti Nur Afiqah Zolkepli

Three local types of honey from different location the honey were examined for potential antioxidant activity and total phenolic content. They were Tualang, Gelam, and Acacia honey. Phenolic compounds from honey were extracted and separated from its sugar using solvent ethyl acetate.The extract were divided into two groups. The first group was further extracted with hydrochloric acid (HCl) whereas the second group was kept non extracted with HCl. Those two different extracts were prepared to evaluate the effect ofHCl towards the content of phenolic compound and the antioxidant activity of ethyl acetate extract of the honey. The antioxidant and total phenolic content of both acidified and non acidified ethyl acetate extarcts were measured by DPPH assay and Folin- Ciocalteu assay, respectively. Results indicated total phenolic content varied from 4.38 to 41.6mg/100g honey as gallic acid equivalent for honey extracted without hydrochloric acid while for honey extracted with hydrochloric acid, total phenolic content ranged from 2.86 to 3.74mg/100g honey as gallic acid equivalent. Correlation was not existed between phenolic content and antiradical activity. Negative results were observed from the antioxidant assay. Further extraction with HCl effected the value of total phenolic content but indicated no effect on the antioxidant activity of acidified and non acidified ethyl acetate honey extracts. Thus, many factors should be considered during the experiment.