Effect of heat treatment and microwave radiation on the antioxidant properties of honeydew honey.

Honey is a natural product containing, inter alia compounds as antioxidants. During storage of honey the crystallization occurs which makes the filling into individual packages difficult. Microwave irradiation can be the solution for liquefying of honey without the lost of bioactivity. Due to the volumetric heating, the process time is greatly reduced. The main aim of the study was to determine the effect of microwave radiation on antioxidant activity of honeydew honey. Total phenolic content were measured using Folin-Ciocalteau reagent and the results were expressed as mg of gallic acid per 100 g of honey sample. The antioxidant activity with stable ABTS^•+ radical cation and the antioxidant activity against DPPH^• were also done. It has been shown that the antioxidant potential of honey-dew has decreased under the influence of both conventional heating and microwave radiation (expressed as% reduction of ABTS and total phenolic content). There was an increase of antioxidant properties of conventional heating under the influence (expressed as% reduction of DPPH).