In the long human tradition honey has been used not only as a nutrient but also as a medicine. Its composition is rather variable and depends on the floral source and on external factors, such as seasonal, environmental conditions and processing. In this review, specific attention is focused on absorption, metabolism, and beneficial
biological activities of honey compounds in human. Honey is a supersaturated
solution of
sugars, mainly composed of
fructose (38%) and
glucose (31%), containing also minerals,
proteins, free
amino acids,
enzymes,
vitamins and
polyphenols. Among
polyphenols,
flavonoids are the most abundant and are closely related to its
biological functions. Honey positively affects risk factors for
cardiovascular diseases by inhibiting
inflammation, improving endothelial function, as well as the plasma
lipid profile, and increasing
low-density lipoprotein resistance to oxidation. Honey also displays an important antitumoral capacity, where
polyphenols again are considered responsible for its complementary and overlapping mechanisms of chemopreventive activity in multistage
carcinogenesis, by inhibiting mutagenesis or inducing apoptosis. Moreover, honey positively modulates the glycemic response by reducing
blood glucose, serum
fructosamine or
glycosylated hemoglobin concentrations and exerts antibacterial properties caused by its consistent amount of
hydrogen peroxide and non-
peroxide factors as
flavonoids,
methylglyoxal and defensin-1
peptide. In conclusion, the evidence of the
biological actions of honey can be ascribed to its polyphenolic contents which, in turn, are usually associated to its
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions, as well as to its cardiovascular, antiproliferative and antimicrobial benefits.