Diafiltration and agglomeration as methods to improve the properties of honey powder obtained by spray drying

- 22.7% of glucose, 22.2% of fructose was eluted from honey solution by diafiltration.
- It is possible to enhance the honey spray drying by diafiltration pretreatment.
- It is possible to enhance the powder properties by diafiltration pretreatment.
- Honey-milk instant powders can be produced by spray drying + agglomeration.

The aim of work was to find a method which will make possible to obtain honey powder of improved physical properties and/or reduced amount of carrier, comparing to traditional honey powder produced by a single-stage spray drying. Diafiltration (DF) was applied for partial separation of glucose and fructose from honey solution, that let to obtain honey powder with 75% honey content in dry basis. Moreover, honey powder produced from diafiltration retentate was characterized by better physical properties than obtained from non-DF treated honey. Agglomeration was applied to produce instant powders containing different amounts of spray dried honey. Additionally, the properties of powders during storage were investigated.Industrial relevanceDrying of honey has great economical potential. However, honey powders obtained by spray drying usually have to contain not < 50% of carrier. Moreover, they have some drawbacks in their functional properties, such flowability, wettability and hygroscopicity making their packaging and utilization difficult. The possibility of enhancement the spray drying process of honey and physical properties of honey powders by diafiltration and agglomeration could be of high importance for honey producers and food industry.