## 2 Materials and Methods
### Correlation  
In this study, the correlation between the analyzed parameters of the different honey samples was evaluated, and the results are reported in Figure 2. Many authors reported that the phenolic component is the first factor influencing the antioxidant properties of honey; indeed, a significant correlation coefficient was shown between antioxidant activity and the total phenolic content [57; 58]. In our study, however, the Pearson correlation coefficients (r) showed a low, if not almost null, relationship between total phenolics and FRAP (r = 0.014) and ABTS (r = 0.094) antioxidant activity. On the contrary, the r value was significantly higher between the total flavonoid content and FRAP (r = 0.37, \(p\) < 0.01) and ABTS (r = 0.565; \(p\) < 0.001) in line with the results reported in our previous work [54]. Our results show that in the studied honeys, the antioxidant capacity does not depend only on phenolic compounds but would be influenced by other factors such as organic acids, amino acids, proteins and ascorbic acid, which act in synergy with the phenolic  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Elements**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Plain**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Hill**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Mountain**} \\  & \(\mu\) & **SD** & \(\mu\) & **SD** & \(\mu\) & **SD** \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{mg kg\({}^{-1}\)} \\ Ca & 4.44 b  & 0.54 & 5.39 a  & 0.66 & 4.87 ab  & 0.47 \\ Mg & 13.73 c  & 1.51 & 20.74 b  & 1.83 & 23.34 a  & 1.86 \\ Na & 52.48 a  & 5.42 & 52.60 a  & 6.33 & 36.25 b  & 4.57 \\  & & & \(\mu\)g kg\({}^{-1}\) & & & \\ Ag & 0.37 a  & 0.04 & 0.35 a  & 0.05 & 0.37 a  & 0.04 \\ Al & 1384.81 b  & 155.16 & 1217.43 b  & 118.91 & 1673.32 a  & 238.04 \\ As & 0.91 a  & 0.15 & 0.83 a  & 0.14 & 0.87 a  & 0.16 \\ Ba & 171.38 a  & 19.3 & 134.49 b  & 23.59 & 146.35 b  & 24.34 \\ Cd & 0.91 a  & 0.12 & 0.38 b  & 0.07 & 0.40 b  & 0.05 \\ Co & 4.58 a  & 0.66 & 3.32 b  & 0.74 & 3.40 b  & 0.58 \\ Cr & 16.77 a  & 1.81 & 15.68 a  & 2.15 & 12.63 b  & 1.24 \\ Cu & 248.21 a  & 28.98 & 267.90 a  & 47.95 & 280.53 a  & 55.27 \\ Fe & 1615.14 a  & 239.69 & 617.31 b  & 94.15 & 1637.43 a  & 301.41 \\ Li & 10.78 a  & 0.94 & 7.97 b  & 0.85 & 8.91 b  & 1.5 \\ Mn & 254.89 c  & 30.18 & 318.72 b  & 45.63 & 454.42 a [FOOTNOTE:a]Footnote a,b,c} \(\alpha\) Means within a row with different superscripts differ \(p\) < 0 compounds of honey. Similar results were found by [PERSON] et al. [12], [PERSON] et al. [59], [PERSON] [60] and [PERSON] et al. [61]. On the contrary, many authors reported a high correlation between the TPC and TFC with the antioxidant capacity of honeys [62; 63]. A study of Argentine honeys showed a higher correlation of antioxidant activity with the TPC (r = 0.91) than with the flavonoid content (r = 0.51) [30]; differently, in Malaysian honey, a higher correlation was recorded with the TFC (r = 0.408) than with the TPC (r = 0.385) [59]. [PERSON] et al. [64] observed a negative correlation between phenols and a DPPH assay (IC50) (r = \(-\)0.616) in Omani honey and in some European honeys (TPC, r = \(-\)0.319; TFC, r = \(-\)0.386) [65]. The low correlations we found indicate that the antioxidant activity is not only promoted by polyphenols but also by other biologically active substances (catalase, ascorbic acid and proteins) which contribute to the antioxidant activity of honey, as reported by [PERSON] et al. [66]. Figure 2 shows the correlation between the metal content and polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. A statistically significant correlation (\(p\) < 0.001) was observed between total phenols and Na (r = 0.51), Ca (r = 0.35), Cu (r = 0.31) and Sn (r = 0.31), while the correlation coefficients had negative correlations with the contents of Al, Fe, Ni, Pb, Sn, Li and Ti (r = \(-\)0.63, \(-\)0.71, \(-\)0.48, \(-\)0.61, \(-\)0.41 and \(-\)0.41, respectively; \(p\) < 0.01).