Manufacturing a honey alternative from maple syrup
Honey is a naturally occurring viscous liquid made from plant nectar by honeybees and is known for its sweetness and unique flavor. Despite the flavor and host of health benefits it provides, honey is expensive to harvest. As of late, "artificial" or "fake honey" options have increased the market share. Among these honey alternatives, some are made by hydrolysis of sucrose or by creating a mixture with real honey and other sugar syrups, dyes, and fillers. However, these products are highly processed and made from ingredients that offer little to no health or nutritional benefits. Nevertheless, honey is one of the food products with the highest levels of intentional adulteration in the world. This scenario creates the possibility for an alternative high-end product that uses maple as a basis. The goals of this research project were 1) to create a healthier, minimally processed honey alternative for the vegan market from maple syrup and 2) to propose a solution to scale up the manufacturing process in a maple processing facility. Invertase enzyme was used to convert the sucrose in maple syrup into glucose and fructose, allowing for further concentration of the syrup and increasing sweetness. The amount of enzyme required to promote at least 85% inversion of the sucrose in maple syrup within an adequate processing time was determined experimentally. The final product or honey was obtained by concentration under low pressure up to 82 o Brix by controlling parameters such as pressure and temperature.