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. 2025 Apr 10;25(1):131.
doi: 10.1186/s12906-025-04867-1.

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic activities of saffron and eryngium honey extracts

Azadeh Teimury  1 , Elahe Mahmoodi Khaledi  2 , Elahe Seyed Hosseini  3
Affiliations

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic activities of saffron and eryngium honey extracts

Azadeh Teimury et al. BMC Complement Med Ther. .

Abstract

Saffron and Eryngium honeys are unique types of monofloral honeys collected from eastern and center of Iran. In present study, first, we investigated melissopalynological and physicochemical parameters in honey samples. Then we extracted the phenolic compounds and evaluated in vitro antioxidant by FRAP assay and anti-inflammatory activities by lipopolysaccharide induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Phenolic extracts reduced nitric oxide and the secretion of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNFSF9 in the inflamed cells, and by reducing the NF-kB and increasing Nrf2 gene expression, showed an anti-inflammatory effect, but in general, Eryngium honey showed higher anti-inflammatory properties. Also, by studying the expression of Bcl-2, Bax and HO-1 genes, we showed that there is a relationship between inflammation and apoptosis in macrophage cells that the phenolic compounds showed their anti-apoptotic properties. Eryngium honey had a better performance in anti-apoptotic properties. Moreover, promising results indicate that Iranian honeys could be an important source of phenolic compounds presenting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, which can have health-promoting properties if included in the diet and medicine.

Keywords: Bcl-2; TNFSF9; Anti-inflammatory; Antioxidant; Eryngium honey; Saffron honey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Pollen grains found in the analyzed honey samples: Left: Saffron (Crocus sativus); Right: Eryngium (Apiaceae family)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Viability of RAW 264.7 cells after incubation with various concentrations of phenolic extracts from honey samples. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM of, at least, experiments were made in triplicate results (p < 0.001)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Effects of phenolic extracts from honey samples on nitric oxide (NO) production. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM of, at least, experiments were made in triplicate results (p < 0.0001)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Comparison of the results of the treatment effect of phenolic compounds of Eryngium and Saffron honey on the expression of NF-kB, Nrf2, IL-6 and TNFSF9 genes, in a period of 24 h in RAW 264.7 cell line. *Statistical significance compared to the LPS group: *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 ***P < 0.001
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Comparison of the results of the treatment effect of phenolic compounds of Eryngium and Saffron honey on the expression of H0-1, Bax and Bcl-2 genes, in a period of 24 h in RAW 264.7 cell line. *Statistical significance compared to the LPS group: *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 ***P < 0.001
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