Honey brands commonly available in Indian market were characterized for their rheological and thermal properties. Viscosity of all the honey samples belonging to different commercial brands was found to decrease with increase in temperature (5–40°C) and their sensitivity towards temperature varied significantly as explained by calculating activation energy based on Arrhenius model and ranged from 54.0 to 89.0？kJ/mol. However, shear rate was not found to alter the viscosity of honey indicating their Newtonian character and the shear stress varied linearly with shear rate for all honey samples. Honey is known to contain pathogenic microbial spores and in our earlier study gamma radiation was found to be effective in achieving microbial decontamination of honey. The effect of gamma radiation (5–15？kGy) on rheological properties of honey was assessed, and it was found to remain unchanged upon radiation treatment. The glass transition temperatures () of these honey analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry varied from ？44.1 to ？54.1°C and remained unchanged upon gamma radiation treatment. The results provide information about some key physical properties of commercial Indian honey. Radiation treatment which is useful for ensuring microbial safety of honey does not alter these properties. 1. Introduction Rheological property is one of the most important physical attributes that could affect texture, sensory rating as well as other quality parameters including shelf stability during storage [1, 2]. Color, flavor, texture, and nutritive value are other parameters determining the acceptability criteria of any food [3]. Honey is a natural viscous food well known for its high nutritional and prophylactic values [4]. Viscosity is an important quality attribute of honey and there are various physical as well as biochemical factors such as temperature, moisture content, and presence of crystals, colloids, and sugars that influence this property. From rheological point of view, honey is a material with changing molecular structure and honey viscosity affects the interactions with and within the microenvironment, material transport, and also the consumption experience [5, 6]. Viscosity affects sensorial properties of honeys and so the acceptability of consumers [1]. This property is of great practical importance to beekeepers and honey processors as the knowledge of honey rheology is necessary in the area of process engineering that involves different stages including handling, storage, processing, quality control, and transportation. The flow behavior properties
References
[1]
M. Dak, R. C. Verma, and S. N. A. Jaaffrey, “Effect of temperature and concentration on Rheological properties of “Kesar” mango juice,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 80, no. 4, pp. 1011–1015, 2007.
[2]
B. Yoo, “Effect of temperature on dynamic rheology of Korean honeys,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 459–463, 2004.
[3]
J. J. Jen, Quality Factors of Fruits and Vegetables, American Chemical Society Symposium Series No. 405, 1989.
[4]
T. Sato and G. Miyata, “The nutraceutical benefit, part iii: honey,” Nutrition, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 468–469, 2000.
[5]
I. Cohen and D. Weihs, “Rheology and microrheology of natural and reduced-calorie Israeli honeys as a model for high-viscosity Newtonian liquids,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 100, no. 2, pp. 366–371, 2010.
[6]
I. Dobre, L. A. Georgescu, P. Alexe, O. Escuredo, and M. C. Seijo, “Rheological behavior of different honey types from Romania,” Food Research International, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 126–132, 2012.
[7]
S. N. Jha, K. Narsaiah, A. D. Sharma, M. Singh, S. Bansal, and R. Kumar, “Quality parameters of mango and potential of non-destructive techniques for their measurement—a review,” Journal of Food Science and Technology, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 1–14, 2010.
[8]
A. Rao, Rheology of Fluid and Semisolid Foods: Principles and Applications, Aspen, Gaithersburg, Md, USA, 1999.
[9]
K. I. M. Al-Malah, B. Abu-Jdayil, S. Zaitoun, and A. A. M. Ghzawi, “Application of WLF and arrhenius kinetics to rheology of selected dark-colored honey,” Journal of Food Process Engineering, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 341–357, 2001.
[10]
B. Bhandari, B. D'Arcy, and S. Chow, “Rheology of selected Australian honeys,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 65–68, 1999.
[11]
P. A. Sopade, P. Halley, B. Bhandari, B. D'Arcy, C. Doebler, and N. Caffin, “Application of the Williams-Landel-Ferry model to the viscosity-temperature relationship of Australian honeys,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 67–75, 2003.
[12]
Y. H. Roos, M. Karel, and J. L. Kokini, “Glass transitions in low moisture and frozen foods: effects on shelf life and quality,” Food Technology, vol. 50, no. 11, pp. 95–108, 1996.
[13]
M. Witczak, L. Juszczak, and D. Ga？kowska, “Non-Newtonian behaviour of heather honey,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 104, no. 4, pp. 532–537, 2011.
[14]
J. F. Diehl, Safety of Irradiated Foods, Marcel Dekker, New York, NY, USA, 1990.
[15]
W. M. Urbain, Food Irradiation, Academic Press, London, UK, 1986.
[16]
S. Saxena, S. Gautam, and A. Sharma, “Microbial decontamination of honey of indian origin using gamma radiation and its biochemical and organoleptic properties,” Journal of Food Science, vol. 75, no. 1, pp. M19–M27, 2010.
[17]
ASTM 1993. E1205-93, Standard Practice for Use of a Ceric-Cerous Dosimetry System, vol. 12.02 of Annual Book of Standards, ASTM, West Conshohoken, Pa, USA, 1993.
[18]
L. Juszczak and T. Fortuna, “Rheology of selected Polish honeys,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 75, no. 1, pp. 43–49, 2006.
[19]
D. G. Mayer and D. G. Butler, “Statistical validation,” Ecological Modelling, vol. 68, no. 1-2, pp. 21–32, 1993.
[20]
A. Bera, L. B. Almeida-Muradian, and S. F. Sabato, “Effect of gamma radiation on honey quality control,” Radiation Physics and Chemistry, vol. 78, no. 7-8, pp. 583–584, 2009.
[21]
J. P. C. Kleijnen, Statistical Tools for Simulation Practitioner, Marcel Dekker, New York, NY, USA, 1987.
[22]
S. Yanniotis, S. Skaltsi, and S. Karaburnioti, “Effect of moisture content on the viscosity of honey at different temperatures,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 372–377, 2006.
[23]
S. D. Holdsworth, “Applicability of rheological models to the interpretation of flow and processing behavior of fluid food products,” Journal of Texture Studies, vol. 2, pp. 393–418, 1971.
[24]
V. Nanda, B. Singh, V. K. Kukreja, and A. S. Bawa, “Characterisation of honey produced from different fruit plants of northern India,” International Journal of Food Science and Technology, vol. 44, no. 12, pp. 2629–2636, 2009.
[25]
A. Lazaridou, C. G. Biliaderis, N. Bacandritsos, and A. G. Sabatini, “Composition, thermal and rheological behaviour of selected Greek honeys,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 64, no. 1, pp. 9–21, 2004.
[26]
A. Kayacier and S. Karaman, “Rheological and some physicochemical characteristics of selected Turkish honeys,” Journal of Texture Studies, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 17–27, 2008.
[27]
J. S. Kumar and M. Mandal, “Rheology and thermal properties of marketed Indian honey,” Nutrition and Food Science, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 111–117, 2009.
[28]
P. Junzheng and J. Changying, “General rheological model for natural honeys in China,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 165–168, 1998.
[29]
J. Ahmed, S. T. Prabhu, G. S. V. Raghavan, and M. Ngadi, “Physico-chemical, rheological, calorimetric and dielectric behavior of selected Indian honey,” Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 79, no. 4, pp. 1207–1213, 2007.
[30]
J. A. Munroe, “The viscosity and thixotropy of honey,” Journal of Economic Entomology, vol. 36, pp. 769–777, 1943.
[31]
C. L. A. Berli and M. L. Olivares, “Electrokinetic flow of non-Newtonian fluids in microchannels,” Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 320, no. 2, pp. 582–589, 2008.
[32]
A. H. Matsuda and S. F. Sabato, “Effect of irradiation on Brazilian honeys' consistency and their acceptability,” Radiation Physics and Chemistry, vol. 71, no. 1-2, pp. 107–110, 2004.
[33]
D. Gómez-Díaz, J. M. Navaza, and L. C. Quintáns-Riveiro, “Rheological behaviour of Galician honeys,” European Food Research and Technology, vol. 222, no. 3-4, pp. 439–442, 2006.
[34]
V. Morales, M. L. Sanz, A. Olano, and N. Corzo, “Rapid separation on activated charcoal of high oligosaccharides in honey,” Chromatographia, vol. 64, no. 3-4, pp. 233–238, 2006.
[35]
Z. Kántor, G. Pitsi, and J. Thoen, “Glass transition temperature of honey as a function of water content as determined by differential scanning calorimetry,” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 2327–2330, 1999.
[36]
L. Slade and H. Levine, “Beyond water activity: recent advances based on an alternative approach to the assessment of food quality and safety,” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 30, no. 2-3, pp. 115–360, 1991.
[37]
Y. I. Matveev, V. Y. Grinberg, and V. B. Tolstoguzov, “The plasticizing effect of water on proteins, polysaccharides and their mixtures. Glassy state of biopolymers, food and seeds,” Food Hydrocolloids, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 425–437, 2000.
[38]
P. A. O'Rourke, M. L. Clayton, J. D'Angelo et al., “Effects of gamma radiation on poly(methyl methacrylate)/single-wall nanotube composites,” Journal of Materials Research, vol. 17, no. 10, pp. 2507–2513, 2002.
