Saccharose degradation over time in stored honey: influence of time, temperature, enzyme activity and botanical origin
2012
Lichtenberg-Kraag, B.
During the ripening process of honey, saccharose is converted in the bee hive to fructose and glucose by the enzyme invertase. The maximum content of saccharose in honey is limited by the European legislation. However, honey samples might show elevated levels of saccharose even though other quality parameters indicate that the ripening process did proceed normally. Honey samples with a saccharose content between 3.5% and 17% were analysed for conditions optimal for degradation of saccharose in stored honey. The honey samples were incubated at 15 deg C, 21 deg C and 37 deg C for at most 9 months. After 9 weeks at 37 deg C, degradation of saccharose was completed with a mean degradation rate of 3.42% per week, but invertase activity was reduced by almost 40%. At 21 deg C, the average rate of degradation was 1.4% per month. At 15 deg C, the process was slowed down to 0.81% saccharose per month. Analysis of saccharose degradation revealed a significant correlation to invertase activity (p less than 0.01), but also to saccharose content (p less than 0.001) and pH (p less than 0.01). The results of this investigation can be used to instruct beekeepers how to handle honey with naturally elevated saccharose content to preserve a natural product conforming to legislation.
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