## 2 Results and Discussion
### Total Phenolic Content (TPC), Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), and Protein Content Results  
Here, for the first time, the contribution _spirulina platensis_ powder at the TPC and TAC of honey was analyzed. The TPC analysis highlighted that the honey sample fortified with spirulina had significantly higher quantities of phenolic compounds. Indeed, adding spirulina powder determined a 12.5% increase in the TPC of the honey sample (Table 4). Furthermore, the presence of spirulina determined a significant increase in the TAC determined by the ABTS++ method, but not by the less sensitive FRAP method. Indeed, ABTS++ identified a 19.45% significant increase in the TAC of the honey fortified with spirulina powder. Although the FRAP analysis found a higher antioxidant capacity for the fortified honey sample, this failed to find a significant difference due to the high standard deviation. Anyway, it should be noted that direct fortification with spirulina platensis powder, rather than feeding bees with spirulina, for the first time determines a greater increase in both TAC and TPC in the experimental samples [17]. Indeed, [PERSON] and colleagues [17] did not find significant increases in the TPC of spirulina honey compared to the control, given the value of 0.139 mg GAE/g versus 0.99 mg GAE/g of the present samples (Table 4). Higher and significant values were also found for the TAC of wildflower honey with spirulina compared to the control (19.45% increase found by ABTS++; Table 4) and compared to honey samples obtained by feeding bees with spirulina (2.29% increase found by [PERSON] and colleagues with the ABTS++ method) [17]. Furthermore, here, for the first time, the protein enrichment of honey due to the addition of spirulina, was analyzed.  
Considering the high protein content of the present spirulina samples, as determined by us previously (54.84%) [28], the honey fortification with spirulina resulted in a significant increase in the protein content of 56.25%.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline  & **TPC** & **FRAP** & **ABTS++** & **Protein Content** \\  & **mg GAE/g EP** & **\(\mu\)mol Fe\({}^{2}\)+E/g EP** & **\(\mu\)mol TE/g EP** & **g/100 g EP** \\ \hline Wildflower Honey & 0.88 \(\pm\) 0.03 b ** & 221.19 \(\pm\) 11.67 a  & 235.63 \(\pm\) 6.39 b  & 0.48 \(\pm\) 0.03 b  \\ Wildflower Honey + spirulina & 0.99 \(\pm\) 0.02 a  & 295.70 \(\pm\) 46.89 a  & 281.47 \(\pm\) 36.18 a  & 0.75 \(\pm\) 0.07 a  \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
* TPC: total phenolic content; GAE: gallic acid equivalent; EP: edible portion; FRAP: ferric reducing antioxidant power. ABTS++: radical scavenging activity assays. TE: Trolox equivalent. Data are means \(\pm\) standard deviation of three (n = 3) replicates. Means with different letters within a column are significantly different (\(p<0.05\)).  
\end{table}
Table 4: Total phenolic content (TPC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and protein content of honey samples.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Physico-Chemical Data** & **Wildflower Honey** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Wildflower Honey +** \\ **Spirulina** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Brix% & 81.77 \(\pm\) 0.25 & 82.10 \(\pm\) 0.40 \\ Moisture content (\%) & 16.80 \(\pm\) 0.20 & 15.90 * \(\pm\) 0.10 \\ EC (mS/cm) & 0.74 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.88 * \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ pH & 4.47 \(\pm\) 0.06 & 4.37 \(\pm\) 0.06 \\ HMF (mg/kg) & 2.40 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 8.13 * \(\pm\) 0.47 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* indicates significant differences between samples (\(p<0.01\)).  
\end{table}
Table 3: Physico-chemical data of honey samples (mean values \(\pm\) SD).