Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Agricultural Research

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of heat treatment at 55 °C applied for different durations on the chemical quality of honey (Apis mellifera), by determining the content of 5-hydroxymethylfuufural (HMF) and diastase. A total of 45 samples were analyzed, representing five treatments with different heat exposure times: 0 h (control), 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. Each treatment was evaluated with ten replicates, except for the control (which had five samples). Chemical analyses were performed before and after the treatments at the Tropical Apicultural Research Center (CINAT), following the harmonized methods of the International Honey Commission. The data obtained were analyzed using an analysis of variance. Subsequently, Tukey's multiple comparison test and Pearson's correlation analysis were applied between the two variables. The results showed that increased heat exposure time led to a significant increase (p < 0.05) in HMF levels and a decrease in diastase. Tukey's test identified treatments with similar behavior, and correlation analysis revealed a strong negative relationship (r = -0.70) between HMF content and diastase, indicating that thermal deterioration of honey simultaneously affects both indicators. In conclusion, the 24 and 48 hour treatments at 55 °C showed less alteration in both parameters, so they are considered the most suitable conditions to preserve the quality of the honey.