Microbiological Quality, Physicochemical Properties, and Antioxidant Capacity of Honey Samples Commercialized in the Moroccan Errachidia Region

An examination of possible effect of hot desert climate on microbiological safety and physicochemical and antioxidant properties of honey marketed in the province of Errachidia in Morocco was made. The assessment of microbiological properties showed no alarming sign of microbiological contamination or quality deterioration. This can be seen by the low moisture content in all analysed samples, which was below 20% (the maximum allowed in honey), and acid pH which was raging from 3.32 ± 0.05 to 4.37 ± 0.12. The ash content values ranged between 0.02 ± 0.01% and 0.23 ± 0.001%, and the electrical conductivity ranged between 87.4 ± 0.42 and 1148.06 ± 2.16 mS/cm. Considering the mineral content, the potassium was the most abundant species in all the analysed samples. The phenol content values varied from 17.35 ± 2.15 mg GAE/100 g in H7 to 219.026 ± 2.26 mg GAE/100 g in H9. Similarly, the same behavior was seen in the case of the other bioactive subfamilies of phenolic compound flavonoid content. Hence, the highest value of flavonoids, flavones, and flavanols was detected in H9, and the minimum value was observed in sample H7. A negative correlation was found between the bioactive fraction of honey samples and free radical scavenging activity assessed as IC50, the concentration of honey that scavenges 50% of the used free radicals. The bioactive fraction, the antioxidant assays, and their correlation values showed the same profile in comparison to the honey samples of other Moroccan regions.