The influence of temperature on honey quality parameters

Two freshly extracted honeys, a honeydew- and a blossom honey were stored for different times at different temperatures. The effect of storage conditions on honey quality parameters was tested by checking HMF-content, invertase-, diastase-, glucoseoxidase-activity and the proline content. It could be shown that long-term storage at lower temperatures has most effects on invertase, followed by diastase and no effects on glucoseoxidase. At higher temperatures glucoseoxidase is the most sensitive parameter, followed by invertase and diastase. In comparison to the enzymes, HMF is less sensitive. Under the same storage conditions flower honeys are more sensitive than honeydew honeys. Besides the storage conditions HMF-formation is further influenced by different parameters, like pH-value, moisture content or the sugar spectrum. Proline has shown to be an unsuitable parameter to check the influence of temperature on honey quality.