The quality of honeys influenced by the traditional heating method

Abstract

In this study, three parameters (hydroxymethylfurfural, diastase activity and invertase activity) were used to evaluate the quality of twenty samples of multifloral honey from northern Algeria heated by a traditional method (conventional heating in a water bath at 100 °C) for five treatment periods (2, 4, 6, 8 and 16 min). The assay was carried out with honey samples whose initial HMF, diastase activity and invertase activity values were within the recommended food authority limit. HMF was determined by HPLC, diastase was measured with Phadebas and invertase was determined using the Siegenthler method. During heating, it was observed an increase in the HMF related to an increase in temperature, but still below the international standard limit (40 mg.kg-1). Diastase activity and invertase activity also decreases during heating. However, invertase is more heat-sensitive and heating time than diastase and HMF, and it's an important parameter to determine if honey has been submitted to heating. Therefore to liquefy honey we can use this method but with a low temperature and a short time because time has a deep impact on the quality of heating treatment of honey.