Potential Biological Activities of Honey from Heterotrigona itama and Its Phytochemicals

Abstract

Abstract Stingless bee honey is a nutritional source that is more popular presently as a substitute for forest honey, which is now limited to its natural sources. This study evaluates the potential biological activities and phytochemical contents of Heterotrigona itama honey obtained from 2 harvesting periods. The agar-well diffusion method was used for measuring the antibacterial activity, while DPPH free radical scavenging activity was used to measure the antioxidant activity. The phytochemical content of honey is analyzed based on the total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The results revealed that the honey collected during harvesting period 1 contained a total of 65.115 mg GAE/g honey and 136.03 mg CE/mg honey, while in period 2, it yielded 53.94 mg GAE/g honey and 181.08 mg honey, respectively. The results showed that honey samples at two harvesting periods had low free radical scavenging ability. Antibacterial assay against Propionibacterium acnes indicated that the honey obtained from 2 harvesting periods possessed good antibacterial potential.