Determination of crystallization characteristics of honey from Skopje region

The crystallization characteristics of naturally crystalized and creamed honey prepared from the Skopje
region are studied in this research. The chemical composition analysis of the pristine honey used for
this purpose showed 4.6% sucrose, 67.8% non-reducing sugars, 1.5% free acids and 13.5% water. The
honey was left to freely crystalize for one year to prepare naturally crystalized honey, while the creamed
one was prepared via induced crystallization by adding nucleating agent (10% naturally crystalized
honey) under stirring, for 6 days and at 20 °C. Both types of crystallized honey were subjected to x-ray
diffraction (XRD) analysis combined with unique application of the Hermans-Weidinger technique, that
is usually used for crystallinity determination in sinthetic polymers. The phase quantification showed
that the naturally crystalized honey resembles around 30% crystalline phases, while as expected, the
creamed one - around 40%, but with smaller grain size. The larger grain sizes of the crystalline phase
in the naturally crystallized honey can be attributed to the longer crystallization process.
Key words: honey, crystallizатion, creamed honey, XRD, grain size