Abstract

Effect of Sucrose on Quality Characterization of Different Types of Honey

Author(s): Thameed Aijaz*, Aasiya Mohammad, Nusrat Maqbool, Nusrat Bhat

Honey, a complex biological product produced by bees, is a nutrient-dense food with a substantial economic impact on the world. Honey is one of the foods that are prone to intentional or, unintentional adulteration. Sucrose is the most commonly utilised adulterant. In our present study, honey from different floral origin samples (wild shrub, acacia, mustard, brand 1 and brand 2) and their adulteration with sucrose syrup of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% concentrations were analysed for physico-chemical properties, sugar profile and color analysis. Honey samples from different floral origins differ significantly (p 0.05), with moisture content ranging from 17.82 to 18.65%, protein content ranging from 0.37 to 0.77%, ash content ranging from 0.06 to 0.71%, HMF concentration ranging from 8.16 to 22.19 mg/kg, pH ranging from 3.19 to 3.88, and optical density ranging from 0.079 to 0.373. The sugar profile of honey samples showed significant variation with glucose content varied from 29.30 to 32.70%, fructose content for 32.24 to 38.61%, sucrose content for 1.04 to 1.69%, reducing sugars for 62.48 to 72.28% and total sugars varied from 69.30 to 78.67%. The L* value of color profile for different honey samples ranged from 19.78 to 45.23, a* value (6.72 to 16.80) and b*values from 24.59 to 38.31. The characteristics of honey samples from various floral origins met the standards for quality specified by international law and were suitable for consumption. The sucrose syrups of different concentration significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decrease the protein, ash, glucose, fructose, reducing sugars and a* value of honey samples. However significantly increases the moisture content, HMF, pH, optical density, sucrose content, total sugars, L* value and b* value of color.