Purpose

Urban beekeeping is spreading as an answer to promote bee conservation and to develop local economies. This study aims to highlight nutritional properties of polyfloral honeys produced in urban landscape and to compare them to the countryside counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

This research has examined polyfloral urban honeys from a restricted area in Central Italy, for antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content and 15 polyphenols profile. Physicochemical parameters have been also determined to assess the overall quality of the samples. Results were compared with polyfloral honeys produced in surrounding countryside and monitored in two harvest years, 2018 and 2019. Principal component analysis was applied to the data to disclose significant differences among honeys and harvest years.

Findings

Urban honeys revealed up to threefold higher total amount of polyphenols with respect to rural honeys, and in the 2019 harvest, despite water scarcity that affected the national production, demonstrated 50% higher antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. The majority of the 15 polyphenols studied resulted in more abundant urban honeys, in particular in the 2019 harvest. The multivariate analysis evidenced how honeys could be successfully separated according to their production area and harvest year by their different polyphenols profile.

Originality/value

Limited data are available on nutritional properties of urban honeys and on their content in antioxidants. The present results suggest that the cultivated urban environment, with its large floral biodiversity, can provide extra nutrition for bees, resulting in the production of a honey rich in nutraceutical compounds.

中文翻译：

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来自城市养蜂业的多花蜂蜜：多酚成分和抗氧化活性的两年案例研究

目的

作为促进蜜蜂保护和发展当地经济的一种方式，城市养蜂业正在蔓延。本研究旨在突出城市景观中生产的多花蜂蜜的营养特性，并将其与农村同类产品进行比较。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究检查了来自意大利中部禁区的多花城市蜂蜜的抗氧化能力、总酚含量和 15 种多酚成分。还确定了理化参数以评估样品的整体质量。结果与周边农村生产的多花蜂蜜进行了比较，并在2018年和2019年这两个收获年份进行了监测。对数据进行了主成分分析，揭示了蜂蜜和收获年份之间的显着差异。

发现

与农村蜂蜜相比，城市蜂蜜的多酚总量高出三倍，在 2019 年收获时，尽管缺水影响了全国生产，但抗氧化能力和总酚含量高出 50%。研究的 15 种多酚中的大多数产生了更丰富的城市蜂蜜，特别是在 2019 年的收获期。多变量分析证明了如何根据蜂蜜的不同多酚特征，根据其生产区域和收获年份成功分离蜂蜜。

原创性/价值

关于城市蜂蜜的营养特性及其抗氧化剂含量的数据有限。目前的结果表明，城市栽培环境具有丰富的花卉生物多样性，可以为蜜蜂提供额外的营养，从而生产出富含营养成分的蜂蜜。