Correction, October 2026: we removed or corrected claims and figures on this page that our sources did not support. How we handle corrections
Honey Polyphenol Bioavailability
Buckwheat honey carried 6.2× the phenolics of linden honey in a Polish study of 49 honeys. How much of a honey’s polyphenols you absorb has never been measured variety by variety. Absorption of single compounds has, and it ranges from almost all to almost none.
No study has ranked honey varieties by how much of their polyphenols you absorb. In the jar, dark honeys carry more: dark multifloral 187.6 and buckwheat 182.6 mg of phenolics per 100 g, linden 29.23 (Poland, 49 honeys). In people, single compounds differ widely: 95% of a pure caffeic acid dose and 33% of chlorogenic acid were absorbed, and very little chrysin. Whole buckwheat honey has raised blood phenolics and antioxidant capacity in short studies; no health outcome was measured.
What ORAC Measures
ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) measures how well a sample protects a fluorescent probe from peroxyl radicals in a test tube. It is a fast, repeatable lab test. It does not show what survives digestion and reaches the blood.
Honeys from 7 floral sources scored 3.1–16.3 µmol Trolox equivalents per gram in a 2002 study; the darkest, such as buckwheat, scored highest, and ORAC tracked phenolic content (R² = 0.95).
Absorption differs by compound: 95% of a pure caffeic acid dose against 33% of chlorogenic acid in the same 7 people. A test-tube score counts every compound the same way.
The USDA withdrew its ORAC database of foods in 2012, saying the values have no relevance to the effects of specific bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, on human health.
Where Honey Polyphenols Come From
A 2001 study of 52 European unifloral honeys found two groups of phenolic compounds.
From propolis, in most honeys
Pinocembrin, pinobanksin and chrysin, flavonoids characteristic of propolis, were present in most samples in variable amounts, whatever the flower.
Tied to the flower
Hesperetin marked citrus honey, kaempferol rosemary, quercetin sunflower and ellagic acid heather. Lime, chestnut, eucalyptus and heather honeys each had their own marker compounds. Caffeic, p-coumaric and ferulic acids showed up in chestnut, sunflower, lavender and acacia honeys.
Source: Tomás-Barberán et al. 2001, J Sci Food Agric 81:485–496. The study identified compounds; it did not test absorption.
Absorption Measured in People
These studies gave pure compounds, not honey. They show how far apart single polyphenols can be.
| Compound | Result | Design | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caffeic acid | 95 ± 4% absorbed in the small intestine | 7 people with an ileostomy, 2.8 mmol pure dose | Olthof et al. 2001 |
| Chlorogenic acid | 33 ± 17% absorbed in the small intestine | Same 7 people, 2.8 mmol pure dose | Olthof et al. 2001 |
| Chrysin | Peak plasma 3–16 ng/mL; most of the dose in faeces | 7 volunteers, 400 mg oral dose | Walle et al. 2001 |
| 18 major polyphenols | 0.3–43% of the dose recovered in urine | Review of 97 single-dose human studies | Manach et al. 2005 |
The 2005 review ranked gallic acid and isoflavones as the best-absorbed polyphenols, followed by catechins, flavanones and quercetin glucosides, and found proanthocyanidins, galloylated tea catechins and anthocyanins the least absorbed. It found the data on hydroxycinnamic acids too limited to assess.
Phenolics by Honey Type
How much is in the jar, measured with the same tests on every honey.
Group means from 49 Polish honeys, each from a different beekeeper, in milligrams of gallic acid equivalents per 100 g. The swatch and the mm figure are the group’s mean colour on the Pfund scale. Source: Puścion-Jakubik et al. 2022, Antioxidants 11:1312.
Show the data table
| Honey type | Colour, mm Pfund | Phenolics, mg GAE/100 g | FRAP, µmol Fe²⁺/mL | DPPH, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multifloral (dark) | 124.4 | 187.6 | 0.218 | 56.7 |
| Buckwheat | 166.4 | 182.6 | 0.402 | 42 |
| Heather | 125.2 | 91.78 | 0.141 | 46.4 |
| Honeydew | 109.9 | 86 | 0.323 | 58.6 |
| Nectar–honeydew | 115.2 | 57.08 | 0.205 | 57.4 |
| Rape (canola) | 81.47 | 33.18 | 0.03 | 47.9 |
| Multifloral (light) | 33.3 | 32.04 | 0.052 | 45.3 |
| Linden | 43.5 | 29.23 | 0.083 | 58.6 |
Heather and dark multifloral honey were the same colour (125.2 and 124.4 mm Pfund) and differed twofold in phenolics (91.78 vs 187.6 mg per 100 g). We do not multiply these by absorption rates: no study has measured which share of each honey’s phenolics you absorb.
The Fructose Uric Acid Confound
A blood antioxidant rise after eating a sweet food is not proof that its polyphenols were absorbed.
Lotito & Frei 2004 (Free Radic Biol Med 37:251–258)
6 healthy people ate five apples, a carbohydrate-matched meal of bagels, or the apples’ fructose in water. Plasma antioxidant capacity (FRAP) rose after the apples, and urate rose with it, from 271 to 367 µM after one hour. Fructose alone did the same. The authors put the rise down to the effect of fructose on urate, not to apple flavonoids. PubMed 15203196
Honey is mostly fructose and glucose, so the same caution applies to honey studies that report a blood antioxidant rise. Two 2003 studies of buckwheat honey reported one: serum ORAC up 7% in 25 men (Gheldof et al.), and higher plasma phenolics and antioxidant capacity in healthy adults (Schramm et al.). Neither measured a health outcome.
Per Tablespoon
A tablespoon of honey is 21 g. These are the measured group means converted to one tablespoon. They are what is in the spoon, not what you absorb.
| Honey type (Poland) | Phenolics, mg GAE per 100 g | Per 21 g tablespoon, mg |
|---|---|---|
| Multifloral (dark) | 187.6 | 39.4 |
| Buckwheat | 182.6 | 38.3 |
| Heather | 91.78 | 19.3 |
| Honeydew | 86 | 18.1 |
| Nectar–honeydew | 57.08 | 12.0 |
| Rape (canola) | 33.18 | 7.0 |
| Multifloral (light) | 32.04 | 6.7 |
| Linden | 29.23 | 6.1 |
On ORAC, the 2002 range of 3.1–16.3 µmol TE per gram is 65–342 µmol TE per tablespoon.
Variety Selection Guide
Most phenolics in the jar
- •Dark multifloral (wildflower): 187.6 mg per 100 g.
- •Buckwheat: 182.6 mg per 100 g, the darkest group (166.4 mm Pfund).
Middle of the range
- •Heather: 91.78 mg per 100 g, half of dark multifloral at the same colour.
- •Honeydew honey: 86 mg per 100 g, with the highest FRAP after buckwheat (0.323 vs 0.402).
Pale honeys
- •Linden: 29.23 mg per 100 g. Light multifloral and rape honeys were similar.
- •Choose these for their flavour, not for phenolics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't high ORAC mean high health benefit?
Which honey has the best polyphenol bioavailability?
What polyphenols are actually in honey?
Does heating or processing destroy honey polyphenols?
Is the antioxidant boost you get from honey real, or just from fructose?
What is the difference between flavonoids and phenolic acids in honey?
Does Manuka honey have good polyphenol bioavailability?
Should I choose honey based on ORAC value?
Which honey varieties should I choose for different polyphenol goals?
Sources and Updates
Updated : An earlier version ranked 9 honeys by an absorption-adjusted score (ORAC × an absorption rate assigned to each honey: buckwheat 239, heather 24). Its ORAC values were not in the studies it cited and no study has measured absorption honey by honey, so we removed the score and kept only measured numbers.
- Gheldof N, Engeseth NJ. Antioxidant capacity of honeys from various floral sources based on the determination of oxygen radical absorbance capacity and inhibition of in vitro lipoprotein oxidation in human serum samples. J Agric Food Chem 2002;50:3050–3055
- Puścion-Jakubik A, Karpińska E, Moskwa J, Socha K. Content of phenolic acids as a marker of Polish honey varieties and relationship with selected honey-quality-influencing variables. Antioxidants (Basel) 2022;11(7):1312
- Tomás-Barberán FA et al. HPLC flavonoid profiles as markers for the botanical origin of European unifloral honeys. J Sci Food Agric 2001;81:485–496
- Olthof MR, Hollman PCH, Katan MB. Chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid are absorbed in humans. J Nutr 2001;131:66–71
- Walle T et al. Disposition and metabolism of the flavonoid chrysin in normal volunteers. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2001;51:143–146
- Manach C et al. Bioavailability and bioefficacy of polyphenols in humans. I. Review of 97 bioavailability studies. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:230S–242S
- Lotito SB, Frei B. Free Radic Biol Med 2004;37:251–258
- Gheldof N, Wang XH, Engeseth NJ. J Agric Food Chem 2003;51:1500–1505
- Schramm DD et al. J Agric Food Chem 2003;51:1732–1735
Last updated: 2026-10-21
Get the Honey Buyer's Cheat Sheet (free PDF)
16 varieties on one page — color, flavor, best use and what a fair price looks like — from the 304 honeys we track.