Investigation of sensory, physical and chemical quality changes in honey mixtures added with different ratios of microencapsulated fish oil

In this study, honey mixtures with five different amounts of eicopentaoneic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per 100 g (80 mg EPA+DHA/100 g, 160 mg EPA+DHA/100 g, 400 mg EPA+DHA/100 g, 750 mg EPA+DHA/100 g, and 1500 mg EPA+DHA/100 g) were obtained by adding microencapsulated fish oil to honey. Honey without microencasulated fish oil was evaluated as the control group. The moisture content of the microencapsulated fish oil used in the study was found to be 3.4±0.3% and the microencapsulation efficiency was 81.9±3.37%. Compared to crude fish oil, it was determined that the peroxide value of microencapsulated fish oil increased statistically significantly (p<0.05), but other lipid quality parameters such as free fatty acid (% oleic acid) and thiobarbituric acid values (mg malonaldehyde/kg) did not undergo a significant change (p>0.05). The quality criteria of raw honey utilized in the study (humidity, pH, free acidity, diastase number, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), sugar composition (fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose), and proline) were found to be in agreement with the Turkish Food Codex Honey Communiqué (2020/7). Honey mixtures comprising varied ratios of EPA+DHA added to microencapsulated fish oil showed a decrease in HMF, glucose, diastases, humidity, and proline values while increasing pH, free acidity, sucrose, and maltose values. The L* value of honey mixtures became whiter and the b* value became more yellow with the increase in the amount of microencapsulated fish oil. In the sensory evaluation of honey mixtures containing different amounts of EPA+DHA by the panelists, it was determined that the most appreciated group was the honey mixture containing 80 mg EPA+DHA per 100 g.