Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in connection with chemometric analysis were used as a fast and direct approach to classify spray dried honey powder compositions in terms of honey content, the type of diluent (water or skim milk), and carrier (maltodextrin or skim milk powder) used for the preparation of feed solutions before spray drying. Eleven variants of honey powders containing different amounts of honey, the type of carrier, and the diluent were investigated and compared to pure honey and carrier materials. Chemometric discrimination of samples was achieved by principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) modelling procedures performed on the FTIR preprocessed spectral data for the fingerprint region (1800–750 cm⁻¹) and the extended region (3600–750 cm⁻¹). As a result, it was noticed that the type of carrier is a significant factor during the classification of different samples of powdered multifloral honey. PCA divided the samples based on the type of carrier, and additionally among maltodextrin-honey powders it was possible to distinguish the type of diluent. The result obtained by PCA-LDA and PLS-DA scores yielded a clear separation between four classes of samples and showed a very good discrimination between the different honey powder with a 100.0% correct overall classification rate of the samples.

Buckwheat honey is proven to demonstrate health beneficial properties; however, its application in the industry is limited due to its high viscosity and syrupy-like consistency. The paper aimed to investigate process performance and physiochemical properties of carrier-reduced buckwheat honey. Honey was spray dried conventionally (inlet/outlet drying temperature: 180 °C/80 °C) and at low drying temperature with dehumidified air application (inlet/outlet drying temperature: 80 °C/45 °C) with maltodextrin as traditional carrier and alternatively with skim milk powder. The results of this study indicate that lowering the humidity of drying air enabled a decrease in carrier content of up to 25% (w/w solids), following powder recovery over 87%, which has not been recorded before for buckwheat honey powders. The results for the physicochemical properties proved that the application of the dehumidified air and skim milk powder as a carrier ameliorated their physiochemical properties and the antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the energy consumption of dehumidified-air-assisted spray drying was investigated as a basis for potential industrial application of this innovative method, which has not been studied in the literature before. The industrial application of this method must be carefully analyzed with regard to its advantages, as the energy consumption is significantly higher than in conventional spray drying.

Spray drying of sour cherry juice concentrate was performed by conventional high temperature method (180 °C/80 °C, inlet/outlet air), as well as by innovative approach with dehumidified air and low drying temperature (80 °C/45 °C, inlet/outlet air). Moreover, the possibility to apply pea protein as an alternative carrier to partially replaced maltodextrin was tested. Due to lower drying temperature and reduced stickiness the carrier content was reduced from 50% down to 30% solids to enhance powders physiochemical properties (lower stickiness, hygroscopicity, better color, better bioaccessibility), although some parameters of variants produced with the addition of pea protein had poorer quality in comparison to powders with only maltodextrin (moisture content, water activity, particles morphology and size, glass transition temperature). Increased bioaccessibility of phenolics and antioxidant potential of pea protein-enriched samples indicated the potentially possible application in functional food.