Conventional and emergent technologies for honey processing: A perspective on microbiological safety, bioactivity, and quality

Abstract

Honey is a natural food of worldwide economic importance. Over the last decades, its potential for food, medical, cosmetical, and biotechnological applications has been widely explored. One of the major safety issues regarding such applications is its susceptibility to being contaminated with bacterial and fungi spores, including pathogenic ones, which may impose a hurdle to its consumption in a raw state. Another factor that makes this product particularly challenging relies on its high sugar content, which will lead to the formation of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) when heated (due to Maillard reactions). Moreover, honey's bioactivity is known to be affected when it goes through thermal processing due to its unstable and thermolabile components. Therefore, proper food processing methodologies are of utmost importance not only to ensure honey safety but also to provide a high-quality product with low content of HMF and preserved biological properties. As so, emerging food processing technologies have been employed to improve the safety and quality of raw honey, allowing, for example, to reduce/avoid the exposure time to high processing temperatures, with consequent impact on the formation of HMF. This review aims to gather the literature available regarding the use of conventional and emergent food processing technologies (both thermal and nonthermal food processing technologies) for honey decontamination, preservation/enhancement of honey biological activity, as well as the sensorial attributes.

Changes in quality and bacterial profiles of Tualang and Kelulut honeys preserved by post‐harvest maturation

“…Heat treatment is known to be the simplest and most convenient method to process honey to improve its shelf stability (Subramanian et al ., 2007; Turhan et al ., 2008; Scepankova et al ., 2021). Conventionally, raw honey is processed at temperature of 45–80 °C for 1–45 min (Subramanian et al ., 2007) to delay crystallisation, to reduce viscosity, to remove contaminating microbes and to prevent fermentation (Subramanian et al ., 2007; Scepankova et al ., 2021). However, heat treatment is a processing method that is often accompanied with significant degradation of food quality, particularly raw honey (Wang et al ., 2004; Soni et al ., 2016; Tarapoulouzi et al ., 2023).…”

“…Increasing concerns and awareness on nutritional quality of processed honey have prompted studies on various other alternative honey processing methods. The advanced technologies and techniques offer better preservation of honey quality (Chong et al ., 2017; Scepankova et al ., 2021). Thermosonification was reported to be effective in killing microorganisms in honey and enhance DPPH radical scavenging activity and TPC of Kelulut honey by 63.0% and 58.1% respectively (Chong et al ., 2017).…”

“…Heat treatment is known to be the simplest and most convenient method to process honey to improve its shelf stability (Subramanian et al ., 2007; Turhan et al ., 2008; Scepankova et al ., 2021). Conventionally, raw honey is processed at temperature of 45–80 °C for 1–45 min (Subramanian et al ., 2007) to delay crystallisation, to reduce viscosity, to remove contaminating microbes and to prevent fermentation (Subramanian et al ., 2007; Scepankova et al ., 2021).…”

Effect of ultrasound technique to improve quality of Iranian industrial honey by controlling crystallization process

“…Advanced food processing and omics technologies are being used to enhance nutritional value, reduce the risk of foodborne illness, and authenticate honey. By leveraging these technologies, beekeepers and honey producers can provide consumers with high‐quality honey that is safe to consume (Brar et al., 2023 ; Scepankova et al., 2021 ).…”

The High Pressure Preservation of Honey: A Comparative Study on Quality Changes during Storage

“…Commercial honey undergoes heat processing to eliminate microorganisms, such as osmophilic (sugar-tolerant) yeasts, to avoid spoilage [3], but also to minimize the risk of fermentation during storage, as it brings down the honey's moisture content to a safe limit and delays crystallization. However, honey's functional activity (e.g., antioxidant and antibacterial activity), organoleptic properties (colour and flavour), and enzymatic activities (e.g., diastase activity) may be diminished by thermal treatment [4,5]. In addition, undesirable compounds are formed due to heating, as is the case with hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) [6].…”