Bioactivity of Greek honey extracts on breast cancer (MCF-7), prostate cancer (PC-3) and endometrial cancer (Ishikawa) cells: Profile analysis of extracts

Honeys from seven different floral sources were analyzed for in vitro antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. Antioxidant capacity was measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay and by monitoring the formation of conjugated dienes as an index of the inhibition of copper-catalyzed serum lipoprotein oxidation. ORAC values ranged from 3.1 to 16.3 micromol Trolox equivalent/g honey. The darkest colored honeys, such as buckwheat honey, had the highest ORAC values. A linear correlation was observed between phenolic content and ORAC activity of the investigated honeys (p < 0.0001, R (2) = 0.9497). The relationship between the ORAC activity and inhibition of lipoprotein oxidation by the honeys yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.6653 (p = 0.0136). This work shows that honey may be used as a healthy alternative to sugar in many products and thereby serve as a source of dietary antioxidants.

Some clinicians are under the impression that there is little or no evidence to support the use of honey as a wound dressing. To allow sound decisions to be made, this seminar article has covered the various reports that have been published on the clinical usage of honey. Positive findings on honey in wound care have been reported from 17 randomized controlled trials involving a total of 1965 participants, and 5 clinical trials of other forms involving 97 participants treated with honey. The effectiveness of honey in assisting wound healing has also been demonstrated in 16 trials on a total of 533 wounds on experimental animals. There is also a large amount of evidence in the form of case studies that have been reported. It has been shown to give good results on a very wide range of types of wound. It is therefore mystifying that there appears to be a lack of universal acceptance of honey as a wound dressing. It is recommended that clinicians should look for the clinical evidence that exists to support the use of other wound care products to compare with the evidence that exists for honey.