Effect of whey and cassava starch on the production of honey powder: Spectroscopic and morphological analysis

Honey is considered a nutritious food, produced primarily by bees (Apis mellifera L.) from flower nectar. However, its high viscosity and handling difficulties have driven the development of honey powder production. The use of adjuvants such as whey and cassava starch, due to their versatility and availability, is a viable option for honey powder production. Therefore, mixtures of honey, whey, and cassava starch were evaluated. The mixtures were dried in a forced air oven at 60 °C for 24 h. The resulting powders were physicochemically characterized and analyzed by FT-IR, DLS, and SEM. The mixture with the highest whey content showed a tendency to slightly decrease the absorption peaks in the spectral range of 1400 to 700 cm−1 in FT-IR spectral analysis. The electrostatic stability showed values of −34.7907 mV, a peak distribution of −35.3467 mV with a conductivity of 0.0091 mS/cm and an electrophoretic mobility of −2.7116 µm*cm/Vs. The morphology of the resulting powder consisted of agglomerated particles with starch granules ranging in size from approximately 45.7 to 90.2 µm. Whey and cassava starch are used as additives and stabilizing agents to produce powdered honey.