**5. Conclusions**

In summary, we found that the main physical and chemical indicators of safflower monofloral honey samples, a local specialty honey type of Xinjiang Providence, China were in-line with the requirements of EU or Codex standards. We also preliminary characterized 14 polyphenolic compounds in the extracts from *Carthamus tinctorius* L. honey (ECH). ECH showed a strong ability to scavenge DPPH·and ABTS<sup>+</sup>·free radicals in vitro. ECH also inhibited the phosphorylation of *I*κ*B*α to activate the *NF-*κ*B* signaling pathway, promoted the expression of antioxidant genes, thereby inhibiting inflammatory process induced by LPS. Our research provides basic information into development on this special honey in the future.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/8/1039/s1. **Figure S1:** Micrograph of safflower pollen from a safflower honey sample.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, L.-P.S. and K.W.; methodology, L.-P.S. and F.-F.S.; validation, L.-P.S., F.-F.S. and W.-W.Z.; formal analysis, F.-F.S.; investigation, L.-P.S.; resources, L.-P.S.; data curation, F.-F.S.; writing—original draft preparation, F.-F.S.; writing—review and editing, L.-P.S., F.-F.S., Z.-H.Z., W.-W.Z. and K.W.; visualization, F.-F.S. and Z.-H.Z.; supervision, L.-P.S. and K.W.; project administration, K.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31702287, 31602016) and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (CAAS-ASTIP-2019-IAR).

**Acknowledgments:** The authors gratefully acknowledge Fuliang Hu from the School of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, for him provide the Raw 267.4 cells during the experiment.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
