Effect of High Hydrostatic Pressure on Antimicrobial
Activity and Quality of Manuka Honey
Food Chem, 2012 Dec 1;135(3):1448-54. Epub 2012 Jun 15.
The antimicrobial activity of Manuka honey is of major
interest to beekeepers and the honey industry. In this study, the effect of
high hydrostatic pressure and thermal treatments on antimicrobial activity and
quality parameters (principally, diastase number and hydroxymethylfurfural
levels (HMF)) of Manuka honey were investigated.
The honey was subjected to different pressures (100-800MPa)
at 25°C for a range of holding times (15-120min). The antimicrobial activity
was found to increase with applied pressure for a given holding time, while the
diastase number and HMF levels remained, more or less, unaffected. The
percentage inhibition in microbial growth correlated linearly (R(2)=0.94) with
methyglyoxal concentration in the honey after treatment over the entire range
of pressure, temperature and holding times studied.
Maximum percentage inhibition (78.83%) was achieved when
honey was subjected to 800MPa compared to the control (57.93%). Thermal
treatments at higher temperatures were found to have a detrimental effect on
antimicrobial activity based on percentage inhibition as well as methylglyoxal
content.
Thus, it can be concluded that the levels of methylglyoxal,
and therefore the antimicrobial effect of Manuka honey, can be enhanced by
using high pressure processing without adversely affecting honey quality.
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