Relevance of wild and managed bees for

human well-being
Alexandra-Maria Klein  1 , Virginie Boreux  2 , Felix Fornoff  2 , Anne-Christine Mupepele  2
, Gesine Pufal  2
Affiliations

 PMID: 29764666
 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.02.011

Abstract
Wild and managed bees provide pollination services to both crops and wild plants, and a variety
of other services from which humans benefit. We summarize the most important and recent
findings on bees as providers of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services. With
comprehensive literature searches, we first identified ten important bee species for global
pollination of crops, which include wild and managed honey bees, bumble bees, orchard-,
cucumber- and longhorn bees. We second summarized bee-dependent ecosystem services to
show how bees substantially contribute to food security, medical resources, soil formation or
spiritual practices, highlighting their wide range of benefits for human well-being and to identify
future research needs.

Studies on the antioxidant properties of

Tualang honey of Malaysia
Mahaneem Mohamed  1 , Kns Sirajudeen, M Swamy, Nik Soriani Yaacob, Siti Amrah Sulaiman
Affiliations

 PMID: 21304614
 PMCID: PMC3005388
 DOI: 10.4314/ajtcam.v7i1.57256

Free PMC article

Abstract
Honey has been used since ancient times for its nutritional as well as curative properties. Tualang
honey is collected from wild honey bees' hives on Tualang trees found in the Malaysian rain
forest. It has been used traditionally for the treatment of various diseases, where its therapeutic
value has partly been related to its antioxidant properties. This study therefore assessed the
colour intensity, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and antiradical activity of gamma
irradiated Tualang Honey. The colour intensity at ABS₄₅₀ was 489.5 ± 1.7 mAU, total phenolic
content was 251.7 ± 7.9 mg (gallic acid) /Kg honey, total antioxidant activity by FRAP assay
was 322.1 ± 9.7 (µM Fe(II)) and the antiradical activity by DPPH assay was 41.30 ± 0.78 (%
inhibition). The data confirms that the antioxidant properties of gamma irradiated Tualang honey
are similar to other types of honeys reported in the literature.

Keywords: DPPH assay; Gamma radiation; Malaysia; Phenolic content; Total antioxidant
activity; Tualang honey.

Phenolic acid composition and antioxidant

properties of Malaysian honeys
M I Khalil  1 , N Alam, M Moniruzzaman, S A Sulaiman, S H Gan
Affiliations

 PMID: 22417491
 DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2011.02282.x

Abstract
The phenolic acid and flavonoid contents of Malaysian Tualang, Gelam, and Borneo tropical
honeys were compared to those of Manuka honey. Ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay
(FRAP) and the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activities were also
quantified. All honey extracts exhibited high phenolic contents (15.21 ± 0.51- 42.23 ± 0.64
mg/kg), flavonoid contents (11.52 ± 0.27- 25.31 ± 0.37 mg/kg), FRAP values (892.15 ± 4.97-
363.38 ± 10.57 μM Fe[II]/kg), and high IC₅₀ of DPPH radical-scavenging activities (5.24 ±
0.40- 17.51 ± 0.51 mg/mL). Total of 6 phenolic acids (gallic, syringic, benzoic, trans-cinnamic,
p-coumaric, and caffeic acids) and 5 flavonoids (catechin, kaempferol, naringenin, luteolin, and
apigenin) were identified. Among the Malaysian honey samples, Tualang honey had the highest
contents of phenolics, and flavonoids, and DPPH radical-scavenging activities. We conclude that
among Malaysian honey samples, Tualang honey is the richest in phenolic acids, and flavonoid
compounds, which have strong free radical-scavenging activities.

© 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®