Safflower honey is a unique type of monofloral honey collected from the nectar of Carthamus tinctorius L. in the Apis mellifera colonies of northwestern China. Scant information is available regarding its chemical composition and biological activities. Here, for the first time, we investigated this honey’s chemical composition and evaluated its in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Basic physicochemical parameters of the safflower honey samples in comparison to established quality standards suggested that safflower honeys presented a good level of quality. The in vitro antioxidant tests showed that extract from Carthamus tinctorius L. honey (ECH) effectively scavenged DPPH and ABTS⁺ free radicals. In lipopolysaccharides (LPS) activated murine macrophages inflammatory model, ECH treatment to the cells inhibited the release of nitric oxide and down-regulated the expressions of inflammatory-relating genes (iNOS, IL-1β, TNF-α and MCP-1). The expressions of the antioxidant genes TXNRD, HO-1, and NQO-1, were significantly boosted in a concentration-dependent manner. ECH decreased the phosphorylation of IκBα and inhibited the nuclear entry of the NF-κB-p65 protein, in LPS-stimulated Raw 264.7 cells, accompany with the increased expressions of Nrf-2 and HO-1, suggesting that ECH achieved the anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting NF-κB signal transduction and boosting the antioxidant system via activating Nrf-2/HO-1 signaling. These results, taken together, indicated that safflower honey has great potential into developing as a high-quality agriproduct.

Honey, a natural healthy liquid bee product, is rich in amino acids, vitamins, and other essential nutrients. Different origin honeys also varied in organic acids. The objective of this study is to establish an efficient solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (SPE-GC–MS) method to eliminate interference of sugar and other impurities for accurately estimating 22 organic acids in honey by optimizing extraction, purification, derivatization, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analytical conditions. After being extracted, purified and derivatized, organic acids in honey were qualified and quantified by GC–MS. This method was evaluated experimentally, and the results showed that, within a certain concentration range, the standard curve linear relationship was satisfactory (R² > 0.9942), and the target organic acid recovery rate was 86.74% ~ 118.68%. Besides, precision (relative standard deviation, RSD = 2.98% ~ 13.42%), detection limit (LOD = 0.002 ~ 0.2 mg kg⁻¹), and quantification limit (LOQ = 0.008 ~ 0.5 mg kg⁻¹) met the target requirements. Also, based on this analytical method, the organic acids in five types of honey (acacia, jujube, vitex, canola and linden honey) were estimated. Notably, they all contained 22 different kinds of organic acids, and significant differences (p < 0.05) in the organic acid content and composition among different honey varieties were observed. PCA analysis showed that the five honeys could be differentiated based on the content of 22 organic acids.