Honey Colour vs. Antioxidants

Does darker honey test higher for antioxidants? One study measured colour, phenolics and two antioxidant tests on the same 49 honeys. This chart plots its 8 honey-type averages.

r = 0.77 for colour vs phenolics; r = 0.68 for colour vs FRAP

Spearman correlations across 49 Polish honeys (Puścion-Jakubik et al. 2022). DPPH radical scavenging did not track colour. Darker usually means more phenolics; it does not hold for every honey.

Colour (mm Pfund) vs Total phenolics (mg GAE / 100 g)

Each dot is a honey-type average. Tap a dot for its values. r = 0.77 (colour vs phenolics) is from the 49 individual honeys.

Tap any dot for colour, phenolics, FRAP and DPPH

Colour grade finder

Pick a colour to see its USDA grade and the measured honeys nearest to it. There is no formula that turns a colour into an antioxidant value, so this tool does not predict one.

Light Amber

85 mm Pfund

Nearest measured honeys:

Honeydew (EU): 86 mm, colour only
Chestnut (EU): 87.9 mm, colour only
Rape (canola) (Poland): 81.47 mm, phenolics 33.18 mg GAE/100 g

Mean colour of 15 European unifloral honeys

Colour only: these sheets report no antioxidant values. From the International Honey Commission descriptive sheets (Persano Oddo & Piro 2004).

Metcalfa honeydew100.8 mm

Chestnut87.9 mm

Honeydew86 mm

Heather76.9 mm

Dandelion56.6 mm

Eucalyptus54.2 mm

Thyme53.1 mm

Sunflower52.4 mm

Lime (linden)33.3 mm

Lavender33.3 mm

Rape (canola)26.2 mm

Rosemary15 mm

Citrus15 mm

Acacia (black locust)12.9 mm

Rhododendron12.4 mm

Frequently Asked Questions

Is darker honey always more nutritious?▾

Darker honey usually has more phenolics, but not always. In a 2022 Polish study of 49 honeys, colour tracked total phenolic content (Spearman r = 0.77) and the FRAP antioxidant test (r = 0.68), but not DPPH radical scavenging. Dark multifloral honey (124.4 mm Pfund) had the most phenolics of the 8 types, slightly more than buckwheat (166.4 mm), while heather at the same colour (125.2 mm) had about half as much. These are lab tests; they do not show an effect in the body.

What is the Pfund colour scale for honey?▾

The Pfund scale grades honey colour in millimetres, from 0 (water white) to over 114 (dark amber). USDA uses 7 grades: Water White (up to 8 mm), Extra White (8–17 mm), White (17–34 mm), Extra Light Amber (34–50 mm), Light Amber (50–85 mm), Amber (85–114 mm) and Dark Amber (over 114 mm). It is read on a Pfund grader or by a photometer whose reading is converted to mm Pfund.

Where is Manuka honey on this chart?▾

It is not on it. The Polish study covered 8 Polish honey types, and the European descriptive sheets give colour but no antioxidant values, so we have no measured colour and antioxidant pair for Manuka. An earlier version of this page placed Manuka below a colour–ORAC regression line; those ORAC values were not measurements, so we removed them on October 21, 2026.

What does ORAC actually measure, and is it still used?▾

ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) is a test-tube assay of how well a sample slows a chemical oxidation reaction, reported in µmol Trolox equivalents. In June 2012 USDA removed its ORAC database, saying the values have no relevance to the effects of specific bioactive compounds on human health. Researchers still use ORAC, FRAP and DPPH to compare honeys with each other. In a 2002 US study of honeys from 7 floral sources, ORAC ranged from 3.1 to 16.3 µmol Trolox equivalents per gram.

How do I embed the honey colour vs. antioxidant predictor on my site?▾

Paste this code: <iframe src="https://rawhoneyguide.com/tools/honey-color-antioxidant" width="100%" height="1020" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="Honey Colour vs. Antioxidants"></iframe>. Append ?theme=dark for a dark-background version. No account or tracking required.

Embed on your site

Free to embed. No tracking. Attribution link included.

<iframe
  src="https://rawhoneyguide.com/tools/honey-color-antioxidant"
  width="100%"
  height="1020"
  frameborder="0"
  loading="lazy"
  title="Honey Colour vs. Antioxidants"
></iframe>

Dark theme: append ?theme=dark to the src URL.

Data sources: Puścion-Jakubik et al. 2022, Antioxidants 11:1312, Table 3 (colour, phenolics, FRAP, DPPH; 49 Polish honeys); Persano Oddo & Piro 2004, Apidologie 35:S38–S81 (European colour means); USDA colour grades. Swatch colours are a drawing aid, not measurements. Updated October 21, 2026: an earlier version plotted 16 varieties on ORAC values that were not in the studies it cited, with a fitted regression line; we removed them. See rawhoneyguide.com/learn/methodology.