Co-Crystallized Honey With Sucrose: Evaluation Of Process And Product Characterization

Honey is a commercial product that presents difficulties in food industries related to crystallization inside the packages. Dry ingredients are easy to handle. Honey co-crystallized with sucrose is a dry productthat can be used in the food industry as long as fulfillsafety and sensory requirements. The objective of this work was to produce and characterize honey co-crystallized with sucrose using 9 different samples of honey. The process of co-crystallization of honey (15%) with sucrose resulted productswith water activity from 0.38 to 0.51, moisture values ranging from 1.25% to 2.04% (wet basis), good fluidity (repose angles from 23.40 to 32.28 degrees) and apparent density from 0.46 to 0.55 g/cm(3). The products presented morphological structure characteristic of co-crystallization products. Final products showed good overall sensory acceptance, which opens the possibility of using co-crystallized honey in food industries. Practical applications The co-crystallization process was used to produce a dry honey-based ingredient, showing good fluidity, stability and sensory acceptance, with honey samples from different origins and physico-chemical properties. The formation of a sucrose-honey matrix can be an achievable process to create a handle, dry and standard product for application in different food systems. Handling, transportation and storage of dry products are easier compared to high viscous products and are achieved in the present product. Economic and industrial applications are greatly expanded for food development.