Journal of Food Engineering 79 (2007) 1207–1213

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Physico-chemical, rheological, calorimetric and dielectric

behavior of selected Indian honey
Jasim Ahmed *, S.T. Prabhu, G.S.V. Raghavan, M. Ngadi
Department of Food Science and Agricultural Food Chemistry, Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Macdonald Campus,
21111 Lakeshore, Ste Anne de Bellevue, Que., Canada H9X 3V9

Received 22 November 2005; accepted 11 April 2006

Available online 12 May 2006

Abstract

Physico-chemical, thermal, rheological and dielectric characteristics of seven Indian honey samples obtained from various floral
sources were investigated. The samples were found to differ from each other in pH, ash content and visual color values. Oscillatory rhe-
ology data revealed that viscous component predominates over elastic modulus (G00 > G 0 ) and some of the honey samples exhibited non-
Newtonian behavior with definite yield stress. The inflection glass transition temperature (Tg) of the honey samples varied between
51.14 and 33.64 °C whereas the temperatures of fusion were ranged between 203 and 221 °C. Few cases more than one fusion tem-
perature of honey samples indicated that melting of different sugar components occurred at different temperatures. Both dielectric con-
stant (e 0 ) and loss factor (e00 ) of honey samples decreased in general as function of frequency at 20 °C. Dielectric parameters of honey were
governed by both moisture and ash content of samples.
Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Honey; Total soluble solids; Color; Viscous modulus; Dielectric constant; Loss factor; Glass transition temperature; Temperature of fusion

1. Introduction atures are available on physico-chemical, rheological and

Honey is natural complex food product produced by
bees from nectar of plants and also from honeydew. It is
a unique sweetening agent that can be used by humans
without processing. Bee honey has significant nutritional
and medicinal benefits. It is a rich source of readily avail-
able sugars, organic acids, various amino acids and in addi-
tion source of many biologically active compounds.
Western Ghats in India produces wide variety of vegetation
and almost one-third of all the flowering plant species in
India are found in those regions.
Currently, characterization of honey by means of chem-
ical, rheological and sensory characteristics has received
several attentions (Anklam & Radovic, 2001; Cordella,
Militao, Clement, & Cabrol-Bass, 2003; Iglesias, de Lore-
nzo, Polo, Martı́n-Álvarez, & Pueyo, 2004). Plenty of liter-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 5146 314390; fax: +1 5143 987977.
E-mail address: jahmed2k@yahoo.com (J. Ahmed).
quality aspects of honey produced in different countries
which is evident from publication in a single year on the
topic (Corbella & Cozzolino, 2006; Juszczak & Fortuna,
2006; Ouchemoukh, Louaileche, & Schweitzer, 2006; Yan-
niotis, Skaltsi, & Karaburnioti, 2006). A vast country like
India too produces honey from various floral sources with
wide variations in physico-chemical, functional and rheo-
logical characteristics.
Rheological parameters have been considered as an ana-
lytical tool to provide fundamental insights on the struc-
tural organization of food and play an important role in
fluid heat transfer. Knowledge of the rheological character-
istics of honey is very important from storage and handling
point of view (Assil, Sterling, & Sporns, 1991). However,
most of the cases steady shear viscosimetry has been
employed to characterize the rheological properties of
honey which indicated is honey as a Newtonian fluid
(Abu-Jdayil, Ghzawi, Al-Malah, & Zaitoun, 2002; Juszc-
zak & Fortuna, 2006; Mossel, Bhandari, D_Arcy, & Caffin,

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2006.04.048
1208 J. Ahmed et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 79 (2007) 1207–1213

2000; Recondo, Elizalde, & Buera, 2006). Commonly temperatures) and dielectric properties of selected Indian
Arrhenius equation is used to describe temperature depen- honey samples.
dency of honey samples. Recent studies on rheometer
which can measure food rheology at considerably low 2. Materials and methods
shear rates have proven presence of yield stress of some
foods which generally believed as Newtonian fluid (Ahmed 2.1. Sample collection
& Ramaswamy, 2003a, 2003b). In addition, small ampli-
tude oscillatory shear (SAOS) test could describe honey Honeys collected from apiarists in Western Ghats in the
rheology more precisely without much alteration in inter- province of Karnataka, India were used in the present
nal network structure. Presently SAOS has been considered study. The floral source of each honey was provided by
better technique to predict correct rheological characteris- the apiarist. Indian honey varieties used in this study were
tics of semi-solid foods (Ahmed & Ramaswamy, 2005, obtained from seven floral sources and is given in Table 1.
2006) and could be implemented for viscous honey sample. Honeys were stored at 4–6 °C and left to stand at room
Dielectric properties of food materials have been consid- temperature for 12 h before analysis. Each sample was
ered the major contributing factors to understand the inter- homogenized with a stirrer before measurement. The sam-
actions between microwaves and food. Various factors can ples were collected between January 2003 and January
influence the dielectric properties of foods including mois- 2005.
ture, ash, electromagnetic waves, frequency, temperature,
density and the physical state of food (Galema, 1997). 2.2. Physico-chemical property measurement
The influence of water and salt (or ash) content depends
to a large extent on the manner in which they are bound Honey samples were analyzed for total solids by vacuum
or restricted in their movement by the other food drying methods (70 °C, 25 mm Hg and for 48 h). Ash con-
components. tent was determined by heating 5 g of honey at 625 °C in a
Materials with amorphous or partially amorphous muffle furnace and pH of honey samples was assessed in a
structure undergo a transition from a glassy solid state to 10% (w/v) solution of honey in distilled water by a pH-
a rubbery viscous state at a material-specific temperature meter (Accumet AB 15, Fisher Scientific, Ottawa, ON).
range, which is often considered as a single point tempera-
ture for practical purposes and is called the glass transition 2.3. Tristimulus color measurement
temperature (Tg). The transition however, occurs over a
range of temperatures rather than at a single point (Roos, Visual color was measured using a Hunter colorimeter
Karel, & Kokini, 1996; Goff, Verespej, & Jermann, 2003). model ColorFlex (Hunter Associates Laboratory, Reston,
As the temperature increases above Tg, some of the physi- VA) in terms of L (lightness), a (redness and greenness)
cal properties of the material change, among them, the and b (yellowness and blueness). The instrument (45°/0°
most important are an increase in the free molecular vol- geometry, 10° observer) was calibrated with a standard
ume, an increase in heat capacity (Cp), increase in thermal black and white tile followed by measurement of samples.
expansion coefficient and dielectric coefficient and changes
in visco-elastic properties (Genin & Rene, 1995). Carbohy- 2.4. Dynamic rheological measurement
drate constituents have a major role in influencing the glass
transition temperature of food systems while the effects of Both small amplitude oscillation stress (SAOS) and
protein and fat on Tg are considered minimal (Jouppila steady shear rheological measurements were performed
& Ross, 1994). Water works as a strong plasticizer in a using a controlled rate rheometer (AR 2000, TA Instru-
food system and it decreases the Tg significantly due to ments, New Castle, DE) with computer control. A parallel
its very low Tg of 135 °C (Johari, Hallbruker, & Mayer, plate geometry was used with a plate radius of 40 mm and
1987). It has been reported that Tg has major impact on a gap between the two plates was set at 1000 lm. All rheo-
food texture/rheology (Hartel, 2001) and food stability as logical measurements were performed at 20 °C. The AR
the water in the concentrated serum phase becomes kinet-
ically immobilized and hence does not support or partici-
Table 1
pate in any reaction. The physico-chemical properties of
Types of honey with their floral source
foods governed by Tg are numerous including agglomera-
Honey sample Common name Floral sources Family
tion, crystallization, structural collapse, sandiness, etc.
coding
(Rahman, 1995). Therefore, the knowledge of Tg is essen-
H1 Jamun Eugenia jambulana Myrtaceae
tial in assuring quality, stability and safety of various food
H2 Soapnut Sapindus trifoliatus Sapindaceae
products (Roos et al., 1996). H3 Gurige Cochlospermum sp. Bixaceae
So far, only a limited amount of information is available H4 Aonla Phyllanthus emblica Euphorbiaceae
on rheological and thermal properties of Indian honeys. H5 Beetle nut Areca catechu Arecaceae
Therefore, the objectives of the present work were to eval- H6 Terminalia Terminalia arjun Combretaceae
H7 Neem Azadirachta indica Meliaceae
uate the rheological, thermal (glass transition and melting
 J. Ahmed et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 79 (2007) 1207–1213 1209

2000 System was based on efficient peltier temperature con- Table 2

trol system and temperature was efficiently monitored dur- Physico-chemical characteristics of selected Indian honeys
ing the experiments. Sample Total solids Ash content pH Specific gravity
For each test, approximately 2 g honey sample was (%) (%)
placed between the plates. The linear visco-elastic range H1 76 ± 0.91 0.08 ± 0.001 5.0 ± 0.08 1.36 ± 0.05
for SAOS tests was pre-determined by stress sweep tests H2 78 ± 0.75 0.29 ± 0.07 4.4 ± 0.11 1.43 ± 0.05
H3 84 ± 0.84 0.18 ± 0.03 3.8 ± 0.10 1.35 ± 0.07
for each honey sample. Oscillatory tests were performed H4 82 ± 0.56 0.26 ± 0.02 3.9 ± 0.20 1.41 ± 0.04
in a frequency range between 0.1 and 10 Hz. The instru- H5 78 ± 0.61 0.21 ± 0.03 3.9 ± 0.09 1.35 ± 0.05
ment was programmed for set temperature and equili- H6 76 ± 0.73 0.39 ± 0.07 4.9 ± 0.07 1.33 ± 0.05
brated for 5 min followed by a two-cycle frequency H7 88 ± 0.81 0.11 ± 0.01 3.9 ± 0.04 1.56 ± 0.07
change from 0.1 to 10 Hz and back. Steady shear rheology
of each samples were carried out at shear rate range of 0.1– where as neem honey (H7) possessed the highest solids con-
100 s1 by two cycles similar to oscillatory measurement. tent. Some studied honey samples were found to contain
Each time new sample was used for rheological measure- lower solids compared to Algerian and Polish honey (Jus-
ment. All rheological measurements were carried out in zczak & Fortuna, 2006; Ouchemoukh et al., 2006). The
duplicate and the company supplied rheology Advantage variations in total solids are found to be dependent on cli-
software, Version 2.3, was used to obtain rheological mate, floral source and some other factors. The ash content
parameters. of the present honey samples was varied widely which ran-
ged from 0.08% to 0.39%. The maximum ash content was
2.5. Differential scanning calorimetry observed for the sample H6, followed by the sample H2
(0.29%) where as sample H1 possessed the lowest ash con-
A TA Q100 Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) tent (0.08). The observed ash contents were similar to Alge-
(TA Instruments, Newcastle, DE) was used for thermal rian honey samples (Ouchemoukh et al., 2006). The
scanning of honey samples. The DSC was attached with differences in mineral content are mainly depends on the
a refrigerated cooling system which efficiently controlled soil in which the nectar producing plant was located
and monitored temperature up to 90 °C. The instrument (Anklam, 1998). All studied honey samples were acidic in
was calibrated with sapphire and indium. Nitrogen was nature and the pH values were varied between 3.8 and
used as purge gas at a flow rate of 50 mL/min. Samples 5.0. The acidity of honey developed due to presence of
(13–15 mg) were weighed accurately into polymer coated organic acids and our results are consistent with Algerian
aluminium pans, hermitically sealed, and allowed to equil- honey (Ouchemoukh et al., 2006). The specific gravity of
ibrate at the initial temperature for 10 min. A four axis honey samples were 1.33–1.56 and these values were lower
robotic device automatically loaded the sample and refer- than earlier report. Tristimuls color values of honey sam-
ence pan of DSC. A sealed empty aluminium pan was used ples varied among sources (Table 3). The maximum light-
as a reference. Preliminary runs were used to optimize the ness (L value) exhibited by H4 while H6 showed the
temperature ranges of thermal scanning for glass transi- minimum. Redness (in terms of color + a value) was found
tion, crystallization and melting temperatures. to be maximum for H6 and sample H3 represented by dull
Runs were conducted from 65 to 230 °C. The thermal color (a = 0.10). Three honey samples (H3, H4 and H7)
scans were carried out from 90 to 250 °C at scanning rate having same ranges of yellowness (+b value) while others
of 5 °C/min to obtain the complete thermal behavior of showed more pronounced yellowness. Color data revealed
pure honeys from low temperature to high temperature. that samples H3 and H7 were white (transparent) com-
Reported data are the average of three determinations. pared to other honey samples.
Results (glass transition and melting point temperature)
were calculated using the TA Universal analysis 2000 soft- 3.2. Rheological characteristics
ware (Version 3.6C) (TA Instruments, Newcastle, DE).
The mid-point glass transition temperature defined by the Dynamic frequency sweep tests were carried out in the
ASTM Standard (E 1356-91) (ASTM, 1995) was consid- limit of linear visco-elastic region to determine the
ered in this study, though the onset and end point Tg were
also reported. The peak temperatures were taken at the
Table 3
maxima of the endotherms for melting (Tm) temperature. Color variations of Indian honey samples
Type Color L value Color a value Color b value
3. Results and discussion
H1 46.05 ± 0.55 1.95 ± 0.12 22.99 ± 0.33
H2 50.04 ± 0.33 0.83 ± 0.08 17.48 ± 0.24
3.1. Physico-chemical properties H3 42.46 ± 0.56 0.10 ± 0.04 10.71 ± 0.34
H4 53.53 ± 0.61 1.37 ± 0.13 10.62 ± 0.23
The results of physico-chemical parameters of honey H5 41.83 ± 0.44 3.55 ± 0.21 18.99 ± 0.26
from various sources are presented in Table 2. Total solids H6 40.96 ± 0.23 5.86 ± 0.16 20.59 ± 0.54
H7 48.14 ± 0.43 0.64 ± 0.09 10.78 ± 0.43
(TS) content of the samples varied between 76% and 88%
1210 J. Ahmed et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 79 (2007) 1207–1213

frequency dependence of the elastic and viscous modulus. Table 4a

Mechanical spectra of selected honey samples at 20 °C Dynamic rheological parameters of selected Indian honeys at 20 °C
are plotted against frequency in Fig. 1a. It was found that Sample Eq. (1) G00 = Axb R2
the viscous modulus (G00 ) was significantly (P < 0.05) Slope SE
higher compared to the elastic modulus (G 0 ) throughout H1 0.99 0.021 0.99
the frequency range employed confirming the viscous nat- H2 0.97 0.084 0.99
ure of honey. The viscous modulus of honey samples sys- H3 0.95 0.026 1.00
tematically increased as function of angular frequency H4 0.98 0.093 0.99
H5 0.99 0.028 1.00
while inconsistent elastic modulus data was found in the H6 0.98 0.029 1.00
rheogram. Smaller magnitude of elastic modulus indicates H7 1.00 0.008 1.00
weak particle–particle interactions and there was no net-
work formation in honey samples.
be greater than 0.99 while the standard errors were less
Already it is mentioned that honey is viscous in nature
than 0.01. The slopes of the model are listed in Table 4a
and, therefore, change of G00 with frequency provide more
which were ranged between 0.95 and 1. It indicated that
information compared to G 0 . The dependence of G00 of
whatever the sources of the honey samples rheologically
honey samples on angular frequency (x) was modelled by
all were very similar to each other. The range of slopes sup-
a power type relationship (Eq. (1)):
ported true viscous nature of honey samples.
G ¼ Axb ð1Þ Fig. 1b illustrates the steady shear rheograms (shear
where A and b were empirical constants. Linear regression stress–shear rate and apparent viscosity–shear rate) of
of log x vs log G00 data resulted straight-line relationships selected honey samples at 20 °C. A plot of viscosity for
and fitted adequately at all temperature ranges (Table the two different honey types illustrates that neem (H7)
4a). The coefficients of determination (R2) were found to honey has the higher viscosity at a given temperature com-
pared to soap nut (H2) honey (Fig. 1b). Contrary to earlier
reports on honey rheology (Abu-Jdayil et al., 2002; Juszc-
10
a
1000 zak & Fortuna, 2006; Mossel et al., 2000; Recondo et al.,
2006), the present study indicated the existence of yield
stress of some of the studied samples. The existence and
Elastic modulus (Pa)

100
Loss modulus (Pa)

1 magnitude of the yield stress for honey has not been

reported yet and the existence of yield was noted in our
10 observation due to higher sensitivity of the used rheometer.
There were differences between upward and downward
0.1 H2 G' flow data during the shearing cycles. The upward data were
H7 G' 1
H2 G''
more scattered due to the structural rigidity of the virgin
H7 G'' sample compared to downward curves and exhibited low
0.01 0 standard errors. Thus, the flow curve data were reported
0.1 1 10 here obtained from down curve. The Herschel Bulkley
Frequency (Hz) model (Eq. 2) was found to be the best-fit model for the
flow curves at 20 °C based on the estimated errors (Table
1000 100
b 4b). The Herschel Bulkley model is given by the following
equation:
n
100 r ¼ r0 þ Kð_cÞ ð2Þ
where r is the shear stress (Pa), r0 is the yield stress, c_ is the
Shear stress (Pa)

App viscosity (Pa.s)

10
10 shear rate (s1), K is the consistency coefficient (Pa sn), and
n is the flow behavior index (dimensionless).

1
Table 4b
1
Herschel Bulkley model parameters of selected Indian honeys at 20 °C

0.1 Sample Yield Consistency Flow SE

H2 stress H7 stress
stress (Pa) coefficient (Pa sn) index (–)
H2 vis H7 vis H1 0.03 0.56 0.97 5.48
0.01 0.1 H2 0.02 0.63 0.96 3.21
0.1 1 10 H3 0.03 4.26 0.92 1.96
H4 0.04 0.97 0.99 9.95
Shear rate (s-1) H5 0.01 0.52 0.97 1.56
H6 0.005 0.47 0.98 0.95
Fig. 1. Typical rheograms (a: dynamic and b: steady shear) of selected
H7 0.01 15.98 0.99 3.57
honey samples at 20 °C.
 J. Ahmed et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 79 (2007) 1207–1213 1211

Magnitudes of the Herschel Bulkley model parameters
for honey samples are presented in Table 4b. Yield stress
varied among studied samples which were ranged between
0.005 and 0.04 Pa. The negative value of yield stress prac-
tically has no significance and we can consider those sam-
ples did not possess any yield stress. The consistency
index (K) varied significantly among samples (0.47–
15.98 Pa sn) and the maximum value was found for H7
(15.98). Flow behavior index (n) of the studied samples
were ranged between 0.92 and 0.99 and very close to unity.
Values of n were in close agreement with literature values
for honey samples. These results confirm those determined
through dynamic oscillatory rheology.
3.3. Thermal properties
Typical DSC curves recorded during thermal scanning
of honey samples are shown in Fig. 2. The glass transition
temperature (Tg) which is commonly related to a relaxation
effect the amplitude of which depends on the thermal his-
tory of the samples. Tg at three locations (onset, inflection
and end point) of honey samples are reported in Table 5.
Most of the researchers considered inflection point Tg
as glass transition temperature (ASTM, 1995) and the
-0.05
-0.1
H4
Heat flow (W/g)
inflection Tg of present study ranged between 33.64 and
51.14 °C (Table 5). It has become well established that
plasticization by water results in depression of the Tg of
completely amorphous and partially crystalline food prod-
ucts. The inflection point Tg values obtained in the present
study were in good agreement with the literature values
(Kantor, Pitsi, & Thoen, 1999). A significantly higher glass
transition temperature (33 °C) exhibited by honey sample
obtained from floral neem source (H7) which is attributed
by higher solid (sugar) contents. The Tg values generally
increased with increasing molecular weight. The major sug-
ars present in honey are fructose and glucose (Ouch-
emoukh et al., 2006) which are contributed for glass
transition of honey samples however the sugar ratio
depends on floral source and environmental conditions
that finally govern honey Tg. In addition, Tg varies widely
for a specific food as it depends on many factors like sam-
ple preparation and size, heating/cooling rate, sample hold-
ing time, moisture content, etc.
Typical melting thermograms of Indian honey samples
are illustrated in Fig. 3. A very wide and intense endother-
mic peak at 170–240 °C corresponding to the melting of
sugars (mono-, di-, tri-, and oligosaccharides) is observed.
Table 5 shows the values obtained for melting of honey
samples. The peak thermal transitions of fusion (Tmax)
for honey samples were observed between 181.55 and
221.12 °C (Table 5). Some samples (like H1) exhibited
more than one temperature of fusion due to presence of dif-
ferent sugar components. The minimum Tmax (181.55 °C)
was shown by H4 sample where as the peak value was

-0.15 H7 observed for H7. As already mentioned that honey consti-

tutes mostly by glucose and fructose and those two major
-0.2 sugar components contributed for the melting point/s of
honey. The change of melting point from individual sugar
-0.25
(glucose  150 and fructose  125 °C) could be contrib-
uted by mixture of sugars and other factors. Most of the
-0.3
reported melting temperatures were very similar to our
-0.35
data (Cordella et al., 2002).
-80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0

Temperature (ºC)
1
Fig. 2. Typical thermograms of selected honey samples showing glass
H1
transition temperatures. 0.5
H3
0

-0.5
Heat flow (W/g)

Table 5
Glass transition (Tg) and melting point (Tm) temperatures of Indian honey -1
samples
-1.5
Type Glass transition temperatures (°C) Melting
Onset Mid-point End point point/s (°C) -2

H1 48.46 ± 0.63 51.14 ± 0.61 54.58 ± 0.33 203.11 ± 0.77, -2.5

218.46 ± 0.83
H2 45.51 ± 0.54 47.18 ± 0.50 52.62 ± 0.48 210.58 ± 0.76 -3
H3 47.43 ± 0.22 50.09 ± 0.50 54.36 ± 0.83 212.24 ± 0.42
-3.5
H4 45.59 ± 0.55 47.27 ± 0.40 50.32 ± 0.89 181.55 ± 0.92 150 170 190 210 230 250
H5 46.83 ± 0.62 49.41 ± 0.24 51.97 ± 1.01 217.66 ± 0.88
H6 47.48 ± 0.53 49.55 ± 0.41 51.08 ± 0.53 214.87 ± 1.13 Temperature (ºC)
H7 30.50 ± 0.54 33.64 ± 0.66 37.78 ± 0.46 221.12 ± 0.95
Fig. 3. Typical DSC melting curves of selected honey samples.
1212 J. Ahmed et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 79 (2007) 1207–1213

3.4. Dielectric properties of Indian honey
A typical behavior of dielectric parameters (e 0 and e00 ) of
Indian honey samples as function of frequency is shown in
Fig. 4. Both dielectric constant (e 0 ) and loss factor (e00 )
decreased as frequency increased for H1 while H7 exhibited
almost frequency independent behavior. Decrease in both
e 0 and e00 have been reported in literature for various foods
(Everard, Fagan, Donnell, Callaghan, & Lyng, 2006;
Wang, Wig, Tang, & Hallberg, 2003).
The commonly used frequencies for microwave heating
purposes are 2450 MHz and 915 MHz. Therefore, dielec-
tric properties at both frequencies, 2450 MHz and
915 MHz, are reported in Table 6. It clearly indicates that
there is decrease in magnitude of e 0 and e00 with an increase
in frequency (except e00 value of H6). The least values of e 0
and e00 was found for Terminalia honey (H6) while Jamun
source (H1) showed the highest dielectric parameters.
Samples containing both moisture and ash content (H2
and H5) closer to each other resulting similar dielectric
properties. However, similar in moisture content and differ-
ence in ash content in honey samples (e.g. H1 and H6)
exhibited significantly difference in e 0 and e00 . It infers that
in addition to moisture content ash content also plays sig-
nificant role in dictating dielectric properties. Similar
30
observation has been made earlier by Sipahioglu and Bar-
ringer (2003) for selected fruits and vegetables.
4. Conclusion
Analysis of some selected Indian honey samples revealed
that floral source has important role in quality parameters
pertaining to processing and storage. This study demon-
strated that honey collected from same environmental
and geographical location significantly varied in rheologi-
cal, thermal and dielectric properties. Contrary to most
of the reports, some honey samples exhibited non-Newto-
nian behavior with yield stress. Small amplitude oscillatory
shear data was duly supported by steady shear data of
honey samples. Honey obtained from neem floral source
exhibited maximum total solids, higher consistency index
and lower glass transition temperature compared to rest
of the honey samples. Dielectric properties were found to
be function of water and ash content and varied signifi-
cantly among studied samples. DSC is a powerful tech-
nique for characterizing the thermal behavior of honeys
and for detecting the effect of moisture content and sugar
profile on glass transition and melting point temperatures.
The observed results could be used for processing, product
development and storage of honey and honey based
products.
20

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