Polatidou Kerasia, Nouska Chrysanthi, Tananaki Chrysoula, Biliaderis Costas G, Lazaridou Athina
Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 235, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Laboratory of Apiculture-Sericulture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Foods. 2025 May 21;14(10):1835. doi: 10.3390/foods14101835.
The quality and stability of honeys are strongly influenced by their chemical composition and physicochemical properties, which vary with botanical origin. This study examined the physicochemical and compositional properties of cotton, heather, orange, thyme, Christ's thorn, and chestnut monofloral honey samples, as well as the kinetics of the creaming-crystallization process by monitoring rheological and color parameters. All samples had moisture content lower than the legislation limit (<20%) and a ≤ 0.60. Chestnut and heather honeys exhibited the highest electrical conductivity and darkest color. Fructose was the predominant sugar in all samples, with thyme having the highest content. Viscosity decreased exponentially with increasing moisture, with thyme honey being the most viscous. Principal component analysis showed distinct clustering of samples based on their compositional-physicochemical characteristics. Calorimetry revealed the water's plasticization effect on honey solids, lowering their glass transition temperature, with the data fitting well to the Gordon-Taylor model. Rheometry indicated a Newtonian-like behavior for liquid honeys, evolving towards a pseudoplastic response upon creaming-crystallization. Cotton honey crystallized rapidly, thyme honey showed moderate crystallization propensity, while samples of heather honey gave a diverse response depending on composition. Overall, high glucose content and/or low fructose/glucose ratio promoted honey crystallization, leading to the formation of highly viscous-creamed honey preparations.
蜂蜜的质量和稳定性受其化学成分和物理化学性质的强烈影响，这些性质会因植物来源而异。本研究检测了棉花、石南、橙子、百里香、基督刺、板栗单花蜂蜜样品的物理化学和成分特性，以及通过监测流变学和颜色参数来研究其乳膏结晶过程的动力学。所有样品的水分含量均低于法定限值（<20%）且水分活度≤0.60。板栗蜂蜜和石南蜂蜜表现出最高的电导率和最深的颜色。果糖是所有样品中的主要糖类，百里香蜂蜜中的果糖含量最高。粘度随水分增加呈指数下降，百里香蜂蜜的粘度最高。主成分分析表明，样品根据其成分 - 物理化学特征呈现出明显的聚类。量热法揭示了水对蜂蜜固体的增塑作用，降低了它们的玻璃化转变温度，数据与戈登 - 泰勒模型拟合良好。流变学表明液态蜂蜜呈现类似牛顿流体的行为，在乳膏结晶时演变为假塑性响应。棉花蜂蜜迅速结晶，百里香蜂蜜表现出中等结晶倾向，而石南蜂蜜样品根据成分呈现出不同的响应。总体而言，高葡萄糖含量和/或低果糖/葡萄糖比率促进了蜂蜜结晶，导致形成高粘度的乳膏状蜂蜜制品。
