Insights on the Proteolytic and Biological Properties of Floral Honeys with Various Botanical Sources

Abstract

Honey is an apiary product with health-promoting properties.However, its biological activities can be affected by its composition of the bioactive molecules. Thus, the study aims to determine the total concentration of proteins, phenolics, and carotenoids in the aqueous extracts of Manuka honey (HM), Sidr honey (HS), Egyptian honey (HE), and mountain honey (HH), in addition to the honey's biological potential and proteolytic activity. Utilizing microscopic methods, the pollen grains analysis was examined. The results demonstrated the anti-hemolytic effect of about 95%, the antioxidant effects of 37.18%, 78%, 88.84%, and 70.29%, and the anti-inflammatory activity of 73.9, 93.8, 95.21, and 87.4 of the honey extracts from HH, HE, HS, and HM, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient of the total phenolic content was used to connect and correlate these various bioactivities. Nonetheless, there is a noteworthy correlation between total phenols and biological activity that is almost 0.9 (R2). Notably, casein was used as a substrate to test the proteolytic activity of the chosen honey extracts. The results showed that the proteases in the extracts had different catalytic efficiencies and kinetic characteristics (V max, Km). The catalytic efficiencies of the HH, HE, HS, and HM extracts were 10, 658, 139, and 55, respectively. The therapeutic proteases treated with honey extracts showed non-competitive inhibition of trypsin and activation of papain and chymotrypsin. Further studies are recommended to separate the bioactive compounds in honey samples and ascertain their botanical origins.