Drying of honey by protecting bioactive components and investigation of possibilities to preparate cold drink mixture from produced honey powder

Honey, produced by bees, is a functional and natural food product with rich nutritional content and significant health aspects. It contains macro and micro nutrients such as sugars, water, organic acids, minerals, vitamins, variable enzymes, phenolic compounds and free amino acids. Honey has been used for treating of wounds since ancient times and its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory effects have been noted in several studies. In this study; investigation of drying methods, carrier material types and their ratios to preserve bioactive properties of honey at the highest level in honey powder production, and turning the obtained honey powders into honey powder mixture for preparation of cold honey beverage were aimed. Thus, a healthy cold drink could be offered to consumers as an alternative to similar products, which contain sugar syrup and artificial colorants and aroma compounds In the research; the effects of two different drying methods (vacuum and spray drying), three different carrier materials (maltodextrin, gum Arabic, and whey proteins) and three different carrier material ratios (50%, 75% and 100% of honey amount) on production of honey powder was investigated in a 2x3x3 factorial experimental design. Also, cold drinks were prepared from produced honey powder samples which have solubility and diastase number values higher than 90% and 8, respectively, and sensory analyses were conducted to determine the most preferred honey powder sample, then the production conditions of determined sample was re-produced with addition of different fruit juice types (black mulberry, strawberry and orange) as water replacers. Physical analyses (color, particle size, bulk density, solubility, turbidity and particle microstructure), chemical analyses (moisture content, water activity, pH, titratable acidity, diastase number, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content and antioxidant activity) and sensorial analysis were performed on all produced honey powder samples. As a result of analyses and evaluation, honey powder samples with the highest yields were obtained in vacuum drying as 90.95% among drying methods and with whey protein as 82.08% among carrier materials types. When the physical properties of honey samples were analyzed, it was determined that volume and surface mean diameters of honey powder samples produced with whey protein were 66.46 and 8.01 µm, respectively and these samples had smaller particle size when compared to other powders produced with gum Arabic and maltodextrin. The addition of fruit juice in powder production resulted with increased particle size of powders. Solubility values of honey powders were determined more than 90% in all samples. Turbidity values of honey powder samples containing gum Arabic were highest among honey powder samples and determined as 137.79 NTU. Diastase activity of honey powder samples produced with maltodextrin, gum Arabic and whey protein were measured as 2.61, 10.48 and 13.76, respectively. Additionally, diastase activity of honey, used in the study, was determined as 10.51, and this value was mainly conserved in samples produced with gum Arabic and whey proteins in both drying methods. However, diastase activity values of honey powder samples with fruits were lower than the accepted limit value (8) according to Turkish Food Codex. HMF content of samples were higher in vacuum drying compared to the contents of samples obtained by spray drying method. In addition, the highest HMF content among the fruited honey powder samples was observed from addition of strawberry juice and it was determined as 15.21 mg/kg. Antioxidant activity of samples, dried with maltodextrin, gum Arabic and whey proteins, were detected as 2.51, 7.87 and 30.17µmol TE/g honey powder, respectively. Antioxidant activity values of fruited honey powder samples were higher than the non-fruited sample and the highest antioxidant activity (196. 91 µmol TE/g honey powder) was belong to the black mulberry juice added samples. As a result of sensory analysis, more than 50% of panelists accepted consuming non-fruited and fruited honey powder samples. According to 5 point hedonic scale test, 50% gum Arabic non-fruited powder samples and strawberry juice added samples were more preferred than other samples and got 3.88 and 4.30 overall points.