Effects of ultrasound and high pressure on physicochemical properties and HMF formation in Turkish honey types

Abstract In industrial production, thermal processing of honey at 50 °C commonly induces liquefaction, i.e. it reduces the crystal count and viscosity and delays any subsequent crystallization. Unfortunately, thermal treatment can generate toxic 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), thereby resulting in quality reduction. Considering this, the present work aims at evaluating the influence of (two) processing technologies as alternatives to thermal processing of honey, namely high hydrostatic pressure (HHP; P = 220–330 MPa, T = 50/60 °C, t = 23/106 min), and ultrasound processing (US; at 24 kHz). The quality parameters evaluated for honey included liquefaction time, HMF content, diastase number, co…