Honors Theses

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Completion

Spring 4-30-2026

Academic Year

2025-2026

Department

Chemistry

Academic Major

Health Sciences

Faculty Advisor

Jim Tarrant, Ph.D.

Abstract

Honey is a naturally occurring substance that has a complex composition including compounds such as flavonoids, that contribute to potential health benefits. Quantitative analysis of flavonoids in honey can be challenging due to their similar structural characteristics, matrix effects, and chromatographic peak separation issues. This study aimed to establish calibration curves for five flavonoids–kaempferol, luteolin, chrysin, myricetin, and quercetin– to estimate their concentrations in five honey samples from varying geographic origins. Liquid-liquid extraction was used to isolate the flavonoids from honey. High Performance Liquid Chromatography was utilized to establish calibration curves and analyze honey samples. The calibration curves assembled demonstrated high linearity with R2 values exceeding .95 and the more resolved peaks from the honey samples were able to be quantitatively analyzed. The HPLC chromatograms had clear differences which shows that they had unique flavonoid contents. Full quantification was not shown, but calibration curves showed a potentially promising path towards this. The limits in resolution of the data could perhaps be addressed in future studies by using other analytical techniques in combination with HPLC.

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