HONEY INFLUENCE ON THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER AND TEAS

Abstract

The combination of honey with tea or honey with water is one of the most traditional flavour improvement, nutrition and therapy. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of different types of honey on selected physicochemical properties of water and teas. For experimental purposes, we used 50 types of polyfloral honey obtained from different regions of Ukraine. For testing, we used 5 g of honey, which was mixed in 100 ml of water or tea prepared from dried inflorescences Sambucus nigra L. Using the EUTECH equipment, we determined the pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS) content in each sample. In the samples water with honey we determined pH in the range from 6.82 (WH-16-01) to 7.70 (WH-16-25), electrical conductivity ranging of 424.0 (WH-16-30) to 545.0 (WH-16-37) μS·m -1 , and content of total dissolved solids range of 252.00 (WH-16-01) to 344.00 (WH-16-47) mg.l -1 . In the samples tea with honey we determined pH ranging of 6.84 (TH-16-01) to 7.56 (TH-16-24; HT-16-25; TH-16-48; TH-16-49 TH-16- 50), electrical conductivity with values from 555.00 (HT-16-02) to 1450.00 (HT-16-01) μS·m -1 , and content of total dissolved solids in the range from 350.00 (TH-16-02) to 913.00 (TH-16-01) mg.l -1 . Correlation analyses between the evaluated physicochemical parameters of water and teas by the addition of various honey have unambiguously demonstrated significant differences between honey samples, which is explained by the fact that the honey has a different plant origin, and hence a different chemical composition.