Distinguishing Quality Honey

High quality natural honey can be distinguished by its fragrance and taste. The best period to stock up on honey is in summer, when it is being collected in large quantities.The ripe, freshly collected, high quality honey at 20°C (68°F) flows from the knife in a straight squirt, without breaking into separate drops. After falling down the honey should form a clear hillock. The ripe honey is being collected from the sealed honey combs; therefore it should always be of high quality.

The honey should not lay down in layers. If this is a case, it indicates the excessive humidity (over 20%) of the product, and such a honey would not be suitable for long term preservation.

A fluffy thin layer on the surface of the honey (like a white foam), or marble-coloured and white spots in crystallized honey at the wallsides of the bottle are caused by filling of liquid honey with subsequent sealing—the air bubbles are surfacing and part of them is concentrated at the wallsides. This is an indication of a high quality honey, which was filled without pasteurization (heating).

If the honey is transparent, burning with amber-like colours, then (unless it is very fresh) it has most likely been heated. Transparent and reluctant to thicken honey can also indicate its being a result of feeding the bees with sugar syrup or even sugar itself, which is bad both for the bees and for the honey they produce, as naturally they are supposed to feed on flower nectar.

A true honey that is at least one month old is usually of demure (not translucent) colours.

A 2008 Italian study determined that nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used to distinguish between different honey types, and can be used to pinpoint the area where it was produced. Researchers were able to identify differences in acacia and polyfloral honeys by the differing proportions of fructose and sucrose, as well as differing levels of aromatic amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine. This ability allows greater ease of selecting compatible stocks.

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How to preservation of Honey

Because of its unique composition and the complex processing of nectar by the bees which changes its chemical properties, honey is suitable for long term preservation and is easily assimilated even after long conservation. History knows examples of honey preservation for decades, and even centuries. "...small residues of edible honey have even been found in the pharaoh's tombs…"

A number of special prerequisites are, however, necessary to achieve the conservation periods of this order. These might include sealing the product in vessels of chosen material, kept in a favorable environment of specific humidity, temperature etc. An example of natural sealing of the honey with wax by the bees in little separated honey comb cells could be taken for reference.

When conventional preservation methods are applied, it is not recommended to preserve the honey for longer than 2 (maximum 3) years. As honey has a strong tendency to absorb outside smells, it is advisable to keep it in clean, hermetically sealed vessels. It is also advisable to keep it in darkened (not lucid) vessels, or in dark store-places. When honey remains in direct sunlight for about one day its lysozyme (an antibacterial albuminous enzyme) is destroyed. Honey should also be protected from oxygen inflow, which brings about accelerated crystallization. Optimal preservation temperature is +4 – 10 °C. The store-place should be dark and dry, preventing the honey from absorbing any moisture. If excessive moisture is soaked up by the honey, it might start fermenting. "Bee honey can absorb the moisture from the air; therefore it might ferment in a damp place"

"Exposure to fresh air brings about the soaking up of external smells, oxygen and moisture, which cause fundamental chemical change of the product—decay of valuable amino acids, vitamins, enzymes and "antibiotics". The light has a similar influence."

Acacia honey is known to be more resistant to crystallization. "The acacia honey would not crystallize (as quick as other types)…"

For the aforementioned reasons (high tendency to absorb outside smells and moisture), it is not advisable to preserve honey uncovered in a refrigerator, especially together with other foods and products Honey is considered to gradually become toxic when preserved in metal containers. "Honey must not be preserved in metal containers, because the acids contained in its structure may cause oxidation. This leads to increased content of heavy metals in honey and decreases the amount of valuable healthy ingredients. Such a honey may cause obnoxious sensations in the stomach and even bring about a poisoning…" It used to be preserved in ceramic and wooden containers in ancient times. Glass bottles are recommended nowadays. "The wooden vessels of coniferous wood are not suitable for honey preservation (honey soaks up the coniferous smell in such vessels). In the oak wood vessels honey grows black."

Traditionally honey was preserved in deep cellars, but not together with wine or other products. It is considered even more sensitive to the store-place conditions than the best wines. Honey should not be heated above 40°С (104°F).

"The best honey is in the uncut honey combs. After being pumped out from there it is very vulnerable, and the main losses of quality take place during preservation and distribution. Heating up to 37°С causes loss of nearly 200 components, part of which are antibacterial. Heating up to 40°С destroys the invertase—the main bee enzyme, thanks to which the nectar becomes honey; heating up to 50°С turns the honey into caramel (the most valuable honey sugars become analogous to synthetic sugar). Generally any larger temperature fluctuation (10°С is ideal for preservation of ripe honey) causes decay."

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The sweet miracle

And Your God revealed to the bee, "Maked nests in hills, in trees, and in places that were made by humankind," afterwards ate from each one (the kind) the fruit and followed the Tuhanmu road that was facilitated (for you). From the bee stomach went out the drink (honey) that various colours, inside were received medicine that cured for humankind. Actually in like that really was gotten the sign (the greatness of the Lord) for people that think about. (QS. An-Nahl: 68-69) Do you know, how was honey the source of important food that was provided by Allah for humankind through these small insects

Honey was compiled on several sugar compounds like glucose and fructose as well as several minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, natrium, klor, the sulphur, the iron, and phosphate. Honey also contained vitamins B1, B2, C, B6 and B3 that his composition kept changing in accordance with the quality of nectar and pollen. Besides this, in honey was gotten also a small amount of copper, iodine, and zinc, as well as several hormone kinds As the Allahs decree in Al Quran, honey was "medicine for humankind". This scientific fact was justified by the scientists who met in the Apikultur all World Conference (World Apiculture Conference) that was held on September 20-26 1993 in China. This conference discussed medical treatment by using the ingredients that came from honey. The American scientists said that honey, extravagant jelly, pollen, and pro-the policy could treat various illnesses. A Romanian doctor said that he mengujikan honey for medical treatment, and 2002 of the patients 2094 of the cataracts patient him recovered the total. The Polish doctors also said in this conference that bee resin could help recuperation of many illnesses like wasir, the problem of skin, the illness ginekologis, and various other illnesses.
Today, apikultur and the bee product opened the branch of the new research in countries that have gone up in the matter of science. The benefit of other honey could be explained below this:
Was easy to be digested: Because the sugar molecule could to honey change to other sugar (for example fructose became glucose), honey was easy was dissolved by the most sensitive stomach although, although having the content of high acid. Honey helped the kidney and the intestines to function better.
Low calorie: the Quality of other honey was, if compared with the amount of same sugar, the content calorie honey 40% lower. Although giving big energy, honey did not increase the weight.
Protracted faster through blood: If being mixt with warm water, honey could berdifusi in blood in time seven minutes. His free sugar molecule made the functioning brain better because of the brain was pengonsumsi biggest sugar.
Helped the formation of blood: Honey provided much energy that was needed the body for the formation of blood. More again far, he helped the cleaning of blood. Honey was influential positive in arranging and helping the circulation of blood. Honey also functioned as the patron towards the problem of the capillary artery and arteriosclerosis.
Killed the bacteria: the characteristics of honey that killed the bacteria were acknowledged as the "effect" of the "inhibition". The research about honey showed that these characteristics increased twice by the fold when being diluted with water. It was really interesting that the bee that just was born in the colony was given ate watery honey by responsible bees treated they-seem like they knew this sweet capacity.

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Nutrition Honey

Honey is a mixture of sugars and other compounds. With respect to carbohydrates, honey is mainly fructose (about 38.5%) and glucose (about 31.0%), making it similar to the synthetically produced inverted sxugar syrup which is approximately 48% fructose, 47% glucose, and 5% sucrose. .

Honey's remaining carbohydrates include maltose, sucrose, and other complex carbohydrates. Honey contains trace amounts of several vitamins and minerals. As with all nutritive sweeteners, honey is mostly sugars and is not a significant source of vitamins or minerals. Honey also contains tiny amounts of several compounds thought to function as antioxidants, including chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase, and pinocembrin. The specific composition of any batch of honey will depend largely on the mix of flowers available to the bees that produced the honey.

Typical honey analysis
•Fruktose: 38.5%
•Glocose: 31.0%
•Sucrose: 1.0%
•Water0: 17.0%
•Other sugar: 9.0% (maltose, melezitoze)
•Ash: 0.17%
•Other: 3.38%
The analysis of the sugar content of honey is used for detecting adulteration Honey has a density of about 1.36 kilograms per liter (36% denser than water).

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Honey

Honey is a sweet fluid produced by honey bees (and some other species), and derived from the nectar of flowers. According to the United States National Honey Board and various international food regulations, "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance…this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners This article refers exclusively to the honey produced by honey bees (the genus Apis); honey produced by other bees or other insects has very different properties.

Honey gets its sweetness from the monosaccharides fructosa and glucose and has approximately the same relative sweetness as granulated sugar (97% of the sweetness of sucrose, a disaccharides Honey has attractive chemical properties for baking, and a distinctive flavor which leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.

Most micro-organisms do not grow in honey because of its low water activity of 0.6.However, it is important to note that honey frequently contains dormant endospores of the bacterium Clostridium, which can be dangerous to infants as the endospores can transform into toxin-producing bacteria in the infant's immature intestinal tract, leading to illness and even death.

The study of pollens and spores in raw honey (melissopalynology) can determine floral sources of honey. Because bees carry an electrostatic charge, and can attract other particles, the same techniques of melissopalynology can be used in area environmental studies of radioactive particles, dust, or particulate pollution pollution

A main effect of bees collecting nectar to make honey is pollution, which is crucial for flowering plants The beekeeper encourages overproduction of honey within the hive so that the excess can be taken without endangering the bees. When sources of foods for the bees are short the beekeeper may have to give the bees supplementary nutrition.

Honey is laid down by bees as a food source. In cold weather or when food sources are scarce, bees use their stored honey as their source of energy. By contriving for the bee swarm to make its home in a hive, people have been able to semi- domisticate the insects. In the hive there are three types of bee: the single quenn bee, a seasonally variable number of drone bees to fertilize new queens, and some 20,000 to 40,000 worker bees. The worker bees raise larvae and collect the nectar that will become honey in the hive. They go out, collect the sugar-rich flower nectar, release Nasonov phremones and return to the hive. These pheromones enable other bees to find their way to the site by smell. Honeybees also release Nasonov pheromones at the entrance to the hive, which enables returning bees to return to the proper hive. In the hive the bees use their "honey stomachs" to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested. The bees work together as a group with the regurgitation and digestion until the product reaches a desired quality. It is then stored in the honeycomb. Nectar is high in both water content and natural yeasts which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the nectar to ferment. After the final regurgitation, the honeycomb is left unsealed. Bees inside the hive fan their wings, creating a strong draft across the honeycomb which enhances evaporation of much of the water from the nectar. The reduction in water content raises the sugar concentration and prevents fermentation. Ripe honey, as removed from the hive by the beekeeper, has a long shelf life and will not ferment.

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