Antitumour and antioxidant potential of some selected Pakistani honeys

Antitumour potential of honey is attributed to its excellent antioxidant activity which in turn depends on the geographical origin. The present study focuses on exploration of antioxidant and antitumour potential as well as total phenolic contents (TPC) of 58 Pakistani honeys involving spectrochemical techniques and potato disk assay. Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used to induce tumours in potato disks. All analysed honey samples exhibited 1.33 ± 0.00–155.16 ± 0.98 mg/100 g of TPC, 50% 2,2-diphenyl picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) inhibition, ⩾7.36 ± 0.43–39.86 ± 2.34 mg/100 g qurecitin equivalent antioxidant contents, ⩾13.69 ± 0.91–65.50 ± 1.37 mg/100 g ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant contents, 64.65 ± 0.43–1780.74 ± 11.79 mM ferric reducing antioxidant power and 60% peroxide inhibition. Antitumour activity observed for 43 natural and 10 commercial samples was ⩾20%. Two samples from Faisalabad region showed 87.50 ± 5.50% and 79.00 ± 5.56% antitumour activity which were reference standard. It was concluded that Pakistani honeys possessed excellent antioxidant and antitumour potential overall.