# The Total Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Activity of Nine Monofloral Honey Types
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Correlations of the Analyzed Parameters  
A Pearson (r) test was applied to evaluate the possible correlations among the examined parameters (total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity, electrical conductivity, L\({}^{\star}\), a\({}^{\star}\), b\({}^{\star}\)). The results of correlation coefficient (r) and level of significance (\(p\)) are given in Table 2.  
The strong positive correlation found between the total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity (r = 0.669, \(p\) = 0.000, \(<\)a = 0.05), confirms that phenolics play an important role, along with other factors (non-phenolic compounds), in the antioxidant properties of honey, as supported by the existing literature [8; 11]. Additionally, the antioxidant potential of honey seems to be linked to its electrical conductivity, as well as its L\({}^{\star}\) and a\({}^{\star}\) colorimetric parameters. Indeed, statistically significant positive correlation was observed between the antioxidant activity and electrical conductivity (r = 0.587, \(p\) = 0.000, \(<\)a = 0.05) and total phenolic content and electrical conductivity (r = 0.457, \(p\) = 0.000, \(<\)a = 0.05). On the other hand, a significant negative correlation was found between the antioxidant activity and L\({}^{\star}\) parameter (r = \(-\)0.424, \(p\) = 0.000, \(<\)a = 0.05), as well as between total phenolic content and L\({}^{\star}\) parameter (r = \(-\)0.455, \(p\) = 0.000, \(<\)a = 0.05). This confirms that darker honey with \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Parameters**} & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Total Phenolic** \\ **Content** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Total** \\ **Antioxidant** \\ **Activity** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Electrical** \\ **Conductivity** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(\mathbf{L^{\star}}\)} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(\mathbf{a^{\star}}\)} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(\mathbf{b^{\star}}\)} \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} Total phenolic content \\ \end{tabular} } & r = 1 & r = 0.669 * & r = 0.457 * & r = \(-\)0.455 * & r = 0.574 * & r = 0.006 \\ \cline{2-7}  & - & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.295 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} Total antioxidant activity \\ \end{tabular} } & r = 0.669 * & r = 1 & r = 0.587 * & r = \(-\)0.424 * & r = 0.497 * & r = \(-\)0.071 \\ \cline{2-7}  & \(p\) = 0.000 & - & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.494 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} Electrical conductivity \\ \end{tabular} } & r = 0.457 * & r = 0.587 * & r = 1 & r = \(-\)0.431 * & r = 0.227 * & r = \(-\)0.147 \\ \cline{2-7}  & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & - & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.026 & \(p\) = 0.152 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} L\({}^{\star}\) \\ \end{tabular} } & r = \(-\)0.455 * & r = \(-\)0.424 * & r = \(-\)0.431 * & r = 1 & r = \(-\)0.165 & r = 0.469 * \\ \cline{2-7}  & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & - & \(p\) = 0.109 & \(p\) = 0.000 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\
\begin{tabular}{c} a\({}^{\star}\) \\ \end{tabular} } & r = 0.574 * & r = 0.497 * & r = 0.227 * & r = \(-\)0.165 & r = 1 & r = 0.473 * \\ \cline{2-7}  & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.026 & \(p\) = 0.109 & - & \(p\) = 0.000 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} b\({}^{\star}\) \\ \end{tabular} } & r = 0.006 & r = \(-\)0.071 & r = \(-\)0.147 & r = 0.469 * & r = 0.473 * & r = 1 \\ \cline{2-7}  & \(p\) = 0.954 & \(p\) = 0.494 & \(p\) = 0.152 & \(p\) = 0.000 & \(p\) = 0.000 & - \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
*: Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Correlation coefficient (r) and level of significance (\(p\)) among the examined parameters (total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity, electrical conductivity, L\({}^{\star}\), a\({}^{\star}\), b\({}^{\star}\)). higher electrical conductivity are likely to have greater antioxidant potential compared to lighter honeys with lower electrical conductivity.