Bee pollen usage as carrier material in the drying of honey and some properties of honey-bee pollen powders

PurposeThe aim of this study was to produce an enriched honey powder with active compounds coming from bee pollen and investigate the effects of bee pollen addition as a carrier material on honey powder.Design/methodology/approachThe effects of bee pollen addition as carrier material in corporation with gum arabic at different ratios (25, 50 and 75% of total carrier material amount) on vacuum-dried honey-bee pollen powder were investigated.FindingsThe bee pollen concentration raise in the mixture increased the particle size, total phenolic, flavonoid and sugar contents and antioxidant activity, whereas decreased the Hauser ratio and Carr index values, hygroscopicity and solubility of enriched honey powder samples. The honey powder samples had passable and poor flow properties and very hygroscopic (>20%) structure because of the high sugar content. The phenolic and flavonoid contents of honey powder samples with bee pollen changed between 1531.59 and 3796.00 mg GAE/kg and 424.05–1203.10 mg QE/kg, respectively, and these values were much higher than the control sample. On the basis of linear correlation analysis, there was a very high positive correlation between total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant activity, while there was a very high negative correlation between these parameters and solubility.Originality/valueThe study evaluated that enriching of honey powders with pollen, which is a product of both plant and bee origin, rather than enriching with different plant and animal sources has an innovative approach. Additionally, the usage of bee pollen as a carrier agent in food drying has not been previously reported in any study.