Food Funct. 2015 May;6(5):1435-42. doi: 10.1039/c4fo01206b.
Author information
- 1Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), ESA, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, apartado 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal. iferreira@ipb.pt.
Abstract
Due
to the enormous variety of phytochemicals present in plants, their
extracts have been used for centuries in the treatment of innumerable
diseases, being perceived as an invaluable source of medicines for
humans. Furthermore, the combination of different plants was reported as
inducing an improved effect (synergism) in comparison with the additive
activity of the plants present in those mixtures. Nevertheless,
information regarding the effects of plant infusions added with honey is
still rather scarce. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to evaluate
the interaction between chestnut honey, a natural product with
well-reported beneficial properties, and three medicinal plants
(either as a single plant or as combinations of two and three plants),
with regard to their antioxidant activity and hepatotoxicity.
Antioxidant activity was evaluated by comparing the results from four
different assays; hepatotoxicity was assessed in two different cell
lines. Results were compared by analysis of variance and linear
discriminant analysis. The addition of honey to the infusions had a
beneficial result in both cases, producing a synergistic effect in all
samples, except β-carotene bleaching inhibition for artichoke + milk
thistle + honey preparation and also preparations with lower
hepatotoxicity, except in the case of artichoke + honey. Moreover, from
the discriminant linear analysis output, it became obvious that the
effect of honey addition overcame that resulting from using single plant
or mixed plant based infusions. Also, the enhanced antioxidant activity
of infusions containing honey was confirmed by lower hepatotoxicity.
