ISSN: 2279 - 0594 Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research Available Online at www.jbpr.in CODEN: - JBPRAU (Source: - American Chemical Society) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August, 2015, 69-81 *Corresponding author: M Asaduzzaman | E-mail: maislam06@gmail.com Research Article Analysis of Biochemical Composition of Honey and its Anti-Oxidant, Phytochemical and Anti- Bacterial Properties M Asaduzzaman 1 , M Sohanur Rahman 1 , Sirajam Munira 1 , M Muedur Rahman 1 , Minarul Islam 1 , Mahadi Hasan 2 , M Abdul Hai Siddique 3 , Shahangir Biswas 4 , Masudul Hasan Khan 1 , Matiar Rahman 1 , Mohammad Amirul Islam 1* 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh. 2 Dept. of Biophysical Chemistry, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, 5 Nakauchi-cho, Misasagi, Yamashina-Ku, Kyoto 607-8414, Japan. 3 Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. 4 Department of systems Neurophysiology, Graduate school of medical and dental science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. Received 02 August 2015; Accepted 19 August 2015 ABSTRACT Honey mainly consists of sugars and water. Apart from sugars, honey also contains several vitamins especially B complex and vitamin C, together with a lot of minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc are also present. Honey has been used for its healing, nutritional, and therapeutic properties since ancient times. Its antibacterial potentials even against multi-drug resistant bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtillis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus albus and Shigella sonnei has been proved. The nutritional composition, minerals, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties of honey will be reviewed here. There is no available information on Biochemical and antioxidant properties on Bangladeshi honey, so we investigate honey for better understanding biochemical properties of honey. Honey samples were collected from the Sundarbon, Khulna, Bangladesh. The levels of P H , Moisture, Ash, Vitamins, minerals, and ascorbic acid, ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant content (AEAC), sugar, protein, anti- microbial activity and antioxidants were determined in the honey samples using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), ABTS radical scavenging Activity and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. The total phenolic and flavonoid were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and colorimetric assay method. The results of this study indicate that the samples compare favorably with samples in many parts of the world and also fall within the limits of international standards. This review covers the composition, physiochemical properties, and the most important uses of natural honey in human diseases. Keywords: Honey, Antioxidant, sugars, vitamin –c, minerals, Anti-bacterial properties. INTRODUCTION Honey is a complex mixture of 82.0% carbohydrates (sucrose, fructose, maltose), 0.3% protein, 17.0% water and 0.7% minerals, vitamins and antioxidants [1].Apart from sugars, honey also contains several vitamins, especially- B complex and vitamin C, together with a lot of minerals. Some of the vitamins found in honey include ascorbic acid, pantothenic acid, niacin and riboflavin; while minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc are also present [2]. Honey contains at least 181 constituents [3, 6]. The other constituents of honey are amino acids, antibiotic-rich inhibine, proteins and phenol antioxidants [7]. It also contains other bioactive substances such as phenolic constituents, flavonoids, organic acids, carotenoid-derived compounds, nitric oxide (NO) metabolites, amino acids and proteins [8,9].Evidence indicates that some varieties of honey contain kynurenic acid (a tryptophan metabolite with neuro active activity) which may contribute to its antimicrobial properties [10].The presence of enzymes such as glucose oxidase, diastase, invertase, phosphatase, catalase and peroxidase has also been documented in honey [11].High levels of ascorbic acid, catalase, peroxidase, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and carotenoids ensure a high level of antioxidants in honey [12]. Honey consumption by humans has been reported to increase total plasma antioxidant and reducing capacity, which can be protective to human health. In Bangladesh, honey is produced and consumed on a large scale. Sundarbons, which is the largest mangrove forest in the world, consists of 334 plant species and is ideal for giant honey bees (Apis dorsata) and honey collectors. However, there is still a lack of information on the comparative physicochemical and biochemical properties of different types of Bangladeshi honeys. The objective of the current study was to