38 Journal of Medicinal Herbs and Ethnomedicine ● Vol 1 ● Issue 1 ● 2015 INTRODUCTION Honey has a valued place in traditional medicine for centuries. However, it has a limited use in modern medicine due to lack of scientific support. For a long time, it has been observed that honey can be used to overcome liver, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal problems (Lin et al., 2010). Honey is a natural product that has been widely used for its therapeutic effects. It has been reported to contain about 200 substances.The therapeutic properties of honey are variable and depend on the type of honey used (Alvarez-Suarez et al., 2010). Honey, a natural product formed from nectar by honeybees, has been a subject of renewed research interest in the last few years. Evidence indicates that honey can exert several health-beneficial effects such as gastroprotective (Gharzouli et al., 2002), hepatoprotective (Al-Waili et al., 2006), reproductive (Mohamed et al., 2012), hypoglycemic (Erejuwa, 2012), antioxidant antihypertensive, antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti- inflammatory effects (Ienco et al., 2011). It consists of primarily sugars such as monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. It contains enzymes such as glucose oxidase, diastase, invertase, catalase, and peroxidase. Honey also contains other bioactive constituents such as organic acids, ascorbic acid, trace elements, vitamins, amino acids, proteins, and Maillard reaction products (Bogdanov et al., 2008). Natural antioxidants can be phenolic compounds (tocopherol, flavonoids, and phenolic acids), nitrogen compounds (alkaloids, chlorophyll derivatives, amino acids, and amines), or carotenoids as well as ascorbic acid (Halliwell, 2011). Phenols are very efficient scavengers of peroxyl radicals because of their molecular structures which include an aromatic ring with hydroxyl groups containing mobile hydrogens. Moreover, the action of phenolic compounds can be related to their capacity to reduce and chelate ferric ion which catalyze lipid peroxidation (Uttara et al., 2009). Therefore, the present study concentrated on analyzing the health boosting components in honey namely the polyphenols, flavonoids, and flavonols. The efficacy of these phytochemicals in enhancing the therapeutic function of honey was determined using the in vitro antioxidant assays. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sample Collection A total of five honey samples (in triplicates each) of, the Indian hive bee, Apis cerana indica F. (Apidae) (Ac), the Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of diferent bee honeys V. Krishnasree*, P. Mary Ukkuru Department of Home Science, College of Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellayani, Trivandrum, Kerala, India Received: Received: 15.07.2015 Accepted: Accepted: 27.07.2015 Published: Published: 28.07.2016 *Address for *Address for Correspondence: Correspondence: V. Krishnasree, Department of Home Science, College of Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellayani - 650 522, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. E-mail: krishnasree.arun@ gmail.com ABSTRACT The present study aimed at elucidating the protective role of honeys produced by the five bee species that prevail in Kerala namely, Apis cerana indica F., Apis mellifera L., Apis dorsata F., Apis florea F. and Trigona iridipennis S. in their raw and processed form against oxidative stress and free radicals. The major phytochemicals screened were polyphenols, flavonoids, and flavonols. The antioxidant potency of the honeys was analyzed using in vitro antioxidant assays namely, 2, 2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay and nitric oxide scavenging assay. The results indicated that the honeys in pure form were having a higher rate of antioxidant activity compared to processed honeys as processing reduce the thermolabile phytochemicals. KEY WORDS: Antioxidant activity, honey, phytochemicals, 2, 2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay, nitric oxide scavenging assay Journal of Medicinal Herbs and Ethnomedicine 2015, 1(1): 38-44 http://scienceflora.org/journal/jmhe/ doi: 10.5455/jmhe.2015-07-013 Regular Article