Nutritive composition and free radical scavenger activity of honey enriched with of Rosa spp.

•Honey enriched with Rosa spp. is a rich source of naturally antioxidants.•Scavenger activity of honey enriched with of Rosa spp. increased.•Addition of Rosa spp. into honey suppressed the lipid peroxidation.

Scavenger activities, total phenolics, lipid peroxidation, vitamin C content and color intensity of raw acacia honey sample and two acacia samples enriched with 5 g/100 g and 10 g/100 g of Rosa spp. fruit from Vojvodina, were evaluated. Acacia raw honey had lowest scavenger activity and also lowest total phenolics, vitamin C content and color intensity, but highest lipid peroxidation. Significantly higher scavenger activities, total phenolics and vitamin C content were observed in both samples enriched with Rosa spp. Lipid peroxidation was significantly lower in both enriched samples. The highest scavenger activity (DPPH - RSC, and OH-ARP), total phenolics, vitamin C and color intensity were observed in sample enriched with 10 g/100 g Rosa spp. fruit. At the same time lipid peroxidation was lowest (123.94 nmol/MDA mg protein) in sample with 10 g/100 g of Rosa spp. fruit. Honey sample with 10 g/100 g of Rosa spp. fruit had high scavenger activity, was rich in antioxidants, and its inclusion in the diet may be recommended to complement other phenolics and vitamin C sources. The antioxidant activity appeared to be a result of the combined activity of a range of compounds including phenolics and other minor components.