Honey

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For other uses, see Honey (disambiguation).

A jar of honey, shown with a wooden honey server and scones.

A capped frame of honeycomb

A honey bee on calyx of goldenrod

Honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees from the nectar of flowers. According to the United States National Honey Board 2003 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 is significantly sweeter than table sugar and has attractive chemical properties for baking.^{[citation needed]} Honey has a distinctive flavor which leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.

Honey has a very high sugar concentration and because of this it kills most bacteria by crenation.^{[citation needed]} Natural airborne yeasts cannot become active in it because the moisture content is too low.^{[citation needed]} Natural, raw honey varies from 14% to 18% moisture content.^{[citation needed]} As long as the moisture content remains under 18%, virtually no organism can successfully multiply to significant amounts in honey.^{[citation needed]} Importantly, honey, which frequently contains dormant endospores of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, 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^[1] (See "Precautions" below).

The study of pollens and spores in raw honey (melissopalynology) can determine floral sources of honey.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

A main effect of bees collecting nectar to make honey is pollination, which is crucial for flowering plants.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Honey formation

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.^{[citation needed]} By contriving for the bee swarm to make its home in a hive, people have been able to semi-domesticate the insects. In the hive there are three types of bee: the single queen bee, a seasonally variable number of drone bees to fertilize new queens and some 20,000 to 40,000 worker bees.^{[citation needed]} 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 and return to the hive. As they leave the flower, bees release Nasonov pheromones. These enable other bees to find their way to the site by smell.^{[citation needed]} Honeybees also release Nasonov pheromones at the entrance to the hive, which enables returning bees to return to the proper hive.^{[citation needed]} In the hive the bees use their "honey stomachs" to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} After the final regurgitation, the honeycomb is left unsealed. Bees inside the hive fan their wings, creating a strong draft across the honeycomb.^{[citation needed]} This enhances evaporation of much of the water from the nectar. The reduction in water content, which raises the sugar concentration, prevents fermentation. Ripe honey, as removed from the hive by the beekeeper, has a long shelf life and will not ferment.^{[citation needed]}

The beekeeper encourages overproduction of honey within the hive so that the excess can be taken without endangering the bees.^{[citation needed]} When sources of foods for the bees are short the beekeeper may have to feed the bees other forms of sugar so they can survive.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Composition of honey

Honey
Nutritional value per 100 g

Energy 300 kcal 1270 kJ

Carbohydrates	82.4 g
- Sugars 82.12 g
- Dietary fiber 0.2 g
Fat	0 g
Protein	0.3 g
Water	17.10 g

Percentages are relative to US
recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database

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%).^{[citation needed]} The remaining carbohydrates include maltose, sucrose, and other complex carbohydrates.^{[citation needed]}

In addition, honey contains a wide array of vitamins, such as vitamin B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid.^{[citation needed]} Essential minerals including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc as well as several different amino acids have been identified in honey.^{[citation needed]}

Honey also contains several compounds which function as antioxidants. Known antioxidant compounds in honey are chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase, and pinocembrin.^{[citation needed]} Unlike most other sweeteners, honey contains small amounts of a wide array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids , and antioxidants.^{[citation needed]}

The specific composition of any batch of honey will depend largely on the mix of flowers consumed by the bees that produced the honey.^{[citation needed]}

Honey has a density of about 1.5 kg/liter (50% denser than water) or 12.5 pounds per US gallon.^{[citation needed]}

Typical honey analysis^[2]

Fructose: 38%
Glucose: 31%
Sucrose: 1%
Water: 17%
Other sugars: 9% (maltose, melezitose)
Ash: 0.17%

The analysis of the sugar content of honey is used for detecting adulteration.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Types of honey

[edit] Blended

Most commercially available honey is blended, meaning that it is a combination of honeys from different sources. China is the world's largest producer of honey (256,000 tonnes in 2001), followed by the United States (100,000 tonnes), Argentina (90,000 tonnes), Turkey (71,000 tonnes), Mexico, Ukraine and India^[3]^[4]

[edit] Polyfloral

Polyfloral honey is derived from the nectar of many types of flowers.

[edit] Monofloral

Main article: Monofloral honey

Different monofloral honeys have a distinctive flavor and colour due to differences between their principal nectar sources. Beekeepers keep monofloral beehives in an area where the bees have access to only one type of flower, because of that flower's properties. In practice, because of the difficulties in containing bees, a small proportion of any honey will be from additional nectar from other flower types.

[edit] Honeydew

Honeydew producer (aphids) on a Norway Spruce (Picea abies)

Instead of taking nectar, bees can take honeydew, which appears similar to honey and consists of the sweet secretions of aphids or other plant sap-sucking insects. Most important of these in Europe is the aphid Marchalina hellenica which feeds on the sap of the Turkish Pine. Honeydew from pine forests has a piney taste and is prized for medicinal use in Europe and Turkey. Bees collecting this resource have to be fed protein supplements, as honeydew lacks the protein-rich pollen accompaniment gathered from flowers.

In New Zealand honeydew nectar is produced by a small scale insect (Ultracoelostoma assimile) living in two of New Zealand's beech forests, mostly black beech (black from the sooty mold growing on the surplus nectar covering the trunks and branches) and, to a lesser extent, red beech. In the early morning sunlight, the droplets of nectar glisten like the morning dew, giving the name honeydew.

Germany's Black Forest is a well known source of honeydew-based honeys.

Honeydew honey in such regions often has a full aroma, is heady, almost pungent, and malty with a thick red amber color.

Honeydew has strong markets in some areas, but in many areas beekeepers are disappointed with a honeydew crop, as they are unable to market the stronger flavored product. Honeydew honey has a much larger proportion of indigestibles than light floral honeys, which can cause dysentery, resulting in the death of colonies in areas with cold winters. Good beekeeping management requires the removal of honeydew prior to winter in colder areas.

Honeydew honey is 16 % water, 38 % fructose, 27 % glucose, 3 % sucrose, 9 % dextrose, 7 % acids and minerals.

[edit] Use of honey

The main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, spreading on bread, biscuits, or toast, and as an addition to various beverages such as tea. Because honey is hygroscopic (drawing moisture from the air), a small quantity of honey added to a pastry recipe will retard staling.^{[citation needed]} Raw honey also contains enzymes that help in its digestion^{[citation needed]}, several vitamins and antioxidants.

Honey is the main ingredient in the alcoholic beverage mead, which is also known as "honey wine" or "honey beer" (although it is neither wine nor beer), and in metheglin.^{[citation needed]} It is also used as an adjunct in beer. Beer brewed with more 30% honey as a source of sugar by weight, or mead brewed with malt (with or without hops), is known as braggot.

Honey is used in traditional folk medicine and apitherapy.^{[citation needed]}

It is an excellent natural preservative.^{[citation needed]}

Its glycemic index is 55.^{[citation needed]}

Most vegans avoid using honey because it is an animal product, instead choosing sweetening alternatives such as sugar, agave nectar, rice syrup, or stevia.^{[citation needed]}

Without commercial beekeeping, large-scale fruit and vegetable farming and some of the seed industry would be incapable of sustaining themselves, since many crops are pollinated by migratory beekeepers who contract their bees for that purpose.^{[citation needed]}

In ancient history, the Ancient Egyptian and Middle-Eastern peoples also used honey for embalming the dead.^{[citation needed]} However, only rich and powerful people had the luxury of this type of funeral. Scythians, and later the other Central Asian nomadic people, for many months drove a wagon with a deceased ruler around the country in their last rites mourning procession, carrying the body in a casket filled with honey.

[edit] Honey in culture and folklore

In many cultures, honey has associations that go far beyond its use as a food. In language and literature, religion and folk belief, honey is frequently a symbol or talisman for sweetness of every kind.

Honey comb

The Old Testament contains many references to honey as a symbol for all that is pleasant and desirable. For example, the book of Exodus famously describes the Promised Land as a 'land flowing with milk and honey' (33:3). There, however, the Hebrew devash refers to the sweet syrup produced from the juice of the date. In contrast, bees' honey is referred to explicitly in The Book of Judges when Samson found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of a lion (14:8). The word "honey" appears 61 times in the King James Version of the Bible.

In Jewish tradition, honey is also a symbol for the new year – Rosh Hashana. At the traditional meal for that holiday, apple slices are dipped into honey and eaten to bring a sweet new year. New Year's greetings for Rosh Hashana very often show honey and an apple, symbolizing the feast.

Honey plays an important role in the festival of Modhu Purnima, celebrated by Buddhists in India and Bangladesh. The day commemorates Buddha's making peace among his disciples by retreating into the wilderness. The story goes that while he was there, a monkey brought him honey to eat. On Modhu Purnima, Buddhists remember this act by giving honey to monks. The monkey's gift is frequently depicted in Buddhist art.

During the Roman Empire, honey was used instead of gold to pay taxes. Even earlier, in the accounts of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, one hundred pots of honey were equivalent in value to an ass or an ox.^[5]

In some parts of Greece, it was formerly the custom for a bride to dip her fingers in honey and make the sign of the cross before entering her new home. This was meant to ensure sweetness in her married life, especially in her relationship with her mother-in-law.

In Western culture, bears are depicted as eating honey, even though most bears actually eat a wide variety of foods, and bears seen at beehives are usually more interested in bee larvae than honey. Honey is sometimes sold in a bear-shaped jar. Teddy bears are associated with honey, possibly because of the influence of Winnie-the-Pooh.^{[citation needed]}

"Honey," along with variations like "honey bun" and "honeypot" and the contraction "hon," has become a term of endearment in most of the English-speaking world. In some places it is used for loved ones; in others, such as the American South, it is used when addressing casual acquaintances or even strangers.

[edit] Honey in the Qur'an

The Qur'an mentions rivers of honey in paradise.^[6]

"And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in (men's) habitations..... there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for mankind. Verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought".^[7]

"Honey is a remedy for every illness and the Qur'an is a remedy for all illness of the mind, therefore I recommend to you both remedies, the Qur'an and honey."^[8]

It is also mentioned specifically that the Prophet Muhammad liked honey,^[9] thus honey is interpreted by Muslims to hold a significant value.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Medicinal uses and health effects of honey

For at least 2700 years, honey has been used to treat a variety of ailments through topical application, though it was not until modern times that the cause of infection was understood. Now, it is understood that the folk remedy of using honey to treat wounds has a scientific explanation: it acts as an antiseptic/antibacterial agent. As an antimicrobial agent honey has potential for treating a variety of ailments, including MRSA.^[10] Antibacterial properties of honey are the result of the low water activity causing osmosis, hydrogen peroxide effect,^[11] and high acidity.^[12]

[edit] Osmotic effect

Honey is primarily a saturated mixture of two monosaccharides. This mixture has a low water activity; most of the water molecules are associated with the sugars and few remain available for microorganisms, so it is a poor environment for their growth.

[edit] Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide in honey is activated by dilution. However, unlike medical hydrogen peroxide, commonly 3% by volume, it is present in a concentration of only 1 mmol/l in honey. Iron in honey oxidizes the oxygen free radicals released by the hydrogen peroxide.

glucose + H₂O + O₂ → gluconic acid + H₂O₂

When used topically (as, for example, a wound dressing), hydrogen peroxide is produced by dilution with body fluids. As a result, hydrogen peroxide is released slowly and acts as an antiseptic. Unlike 3% medical hydrogen peroxide, this slow release does not cause damage to surrounding tissue.

[edit] Acidity

The pH of honey is commonly between 3.2 and 4.5.^[13] This relatively acidic pH level prevents the growth of many bacteria.

[edit] Nutraceutical effects

According to recent findings, honey may have some significant nutraceutical effects (or positive long-term health effects resulting from honey's consumption). In addition to its primary carbohydrate content, honey often contains polyphenols, which can act as antioxidants.^[14] As a nutritional element, antioxidants prevent oxidative stress to cells throughout the body; however, the nutritional significance of antioxidation remains in dispute. Antioxidants in honey have even been implicated in reducing the damage done to the colon in colitis.^[15] Furthermore, some studies suggest that honey may be effective in increasing the populations of probiotic bacteria in the gut, which may help strengthen the immune system, improve digestion, lower cholesterol and prevent colon cancer.^[16]

Such claims are consistent with its use in many traditions of folk medicine.^[17]

[edit] Other medical applications

The most common medicinal use of honey is as an anti-microbial agent used for dressing wounds, burns and skin ulcers. This application has a long history in folk medicine.

Some studies suggest that the use of honey may reduce odors, swelling, and scarring; it may also prevent the dressing from sticking to the healing wound.^[18]

Some claim that one drop of honey directly on the eye can treat mild forms of conjunctivitis.^[19]^[20]^[21]

Due to its antiseptic properties, honey (especially when combined with lemon) can be taken orally by Pharyngitis and Laryngitis sufferers, in order to soothe them.^{[citation needed]}

Though widely believed to alleviate allergies, local honey has been shown to be no more effective than placebos in controlled studies.^[22] This may be due to the fact that most seasonal allergies are caused by tree and grass pollens, which honeybees do not collect.

[edit] Honey as a product

[edit] Honey processing

Comb honey Honey sold still in the original bees' wax comb. Comb honey was once packaged by installing a wooden framework in special honey supers, but this labor intensive method is being replaced by plastic rings or cartridges. With the new approach, a clear cover is usually fitted onto the cartridge after removal from the hive so customers can see the product.
Raw honey Honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat above 120 degrees fahrenheit. Raw honey contains some pollen and may contain small particles of wax. Local raw honey is sought after by allergy sufferers as the pollen impurities are thought to lessen the sensitivity to hay fever (see Medical Applications above).
Chunk honey Honey packed in widemouth containers consisting of one or more pieces of comb honey surrounded by extracted liquid honey. This type is preferred in the US South.
Strained honey or filtered honey Honey which has been passed through a mesh material to remove particulate material (pieces of wax, propolis, other defects) without removing pollen. Preferred by the health food trade - it may have a cloudy appearance due to the included pollen, but it also tends to crystallize more quickly than ultrafiltered honey.
Ultrafiltered honey Honey processed by very fine filtration under high pressure to remove all extraneous solids and pollen grains. The process typically heats honey to 150-170 degrees to more easily pass through the fine filter. Ultrafiltered honey is very clear and has a longer shelf life, because it crystallizes more slowly due to the high temperatures breaking down any sugar seed crystals. Preferred by the supermarket trade.

[edit] Precautions

Honey, corn syrup and other natural sweeteners are a potential and acute threat to infants.^{[citation needed]} Harmless to adults because of a their stomach acidity, botulinum endospores are widely present in the environment and can persist in a dormant state in honey.^{[citation needed]} Since an infant's digestive excretions are non-acidic, ingestion of honey creates an ideal medium for botulinum endospores to grow and produce sufficient levels of toxins to cause infant botulism.^{[citation needed]} For this reason, it is advised that neither honey, nor any other sweetener, be given to children under the age of 18 months. Once a child is eating solid food, the stomach produces enough gastric acid to prevent the germination of the endospores.

Even for adults, honey is not always edible. Because it is gathered from flowers in the wild, there are situations in which it may be toxic.^{[citation needed]}

There are several types of honey that are known to be toxic to humans. The most common of these in the northern hemisphere, popularly known as Mad Honey, is produced from the flowers of rhododendrons, mountain laurels and azaleas. The nectar of these plants may contain grayanotoxin, a compound which is both psychoactive and poisonous to humans but harmless to bees.^{[citation needed]} The effects of Mad Honey have been reported in Western literature as early as 401 BC (see Xenophon's description of the effects of toxic honey in the Anabasis).^{[citation needed]}

The shape of the azalea flower, however, makes access to nectar difficult for honeybees.^{[citation needed]} During the time when azaleas and rhododendrons bloom, there are usually other flowers available that are more appealing to the honey bee. In addition, azalea/rhododendron honey remains toxic for only a very short period.^[23] Thus, lethal honey is rarely encountered. Mad Honey is also sometimes called Green Honey, Crazy Honey or Meli Chloron (ancient Greek).^{[citation needed]}. One form of Mad Honey called Blue Honey is deliberately prepared by humans by adding pieces of the cap of psilocybe mushrooms into non-toxic honey in order to extend the shelf-life of the psychedelic components. The name derives presumably from the blue color imparted to the honey from the spores in the mushroom cap.

Toxic honey may also result when bees are in close proximity to tutu bushes (Coriaria arborea) and the vine hopper insect (Scolypopa australis).^{[citation needed]} Both are found throughout New Zealand. Bees gather honeydew produced by the vine hopper insects feeding on the tutu plant. This introduces the poison tutin into honey. Only a few areas in New Zealand (Coromandel Peninsula, Eastern Bay of Plenty and the Marlborough Sounds) frequently produce toxic honey. Symptoms of tutin poisoning include vomiting, delirium, giddiness, increased excitability, stupor, coma and violent convulsions. As little as one teaspoon of toxic honey may produce severe effects in humans.^{[citation needed]} In order to reduce the risk of tutin poisoning, humans should not eat honey taken from feral hives in the risk areas of New Zealand. Since December 2001, New Zealand beekeepers have been required to reduce the risk of producing toxic honey by closely monitoring tutu, vine hopper, and foraging conditions within 3 km of their apiary.

[edit] Other descriptions

Blended honey A homogeneous mixture of two or more honeys differing in floral source, color, flavor, density or geographic origin.
Churned honey or creamed honey See whipped honey.
Crystallized honey Honey in which some of the glucose content has spontaneously crystallized from solution as the monohydrate. Also called "granulated honey."
Honey fondant See whipped honey.
Organic honey is honey produced, processed, and packaged in accordance with national regulations, and certified as such by some government body or an independent organic farming certification organization. For example, in the United Kingdom, the standard covers not only the origin of bees, but also the siting of the apiaries. These must be on land that is certified as organic, and within a radius of 4 miles from the apiary site, nectar and pollen sources must consist essentially of organic crops or uncultivated areas[18].
Set honey All honey will eventually set or granulate and this process can be reversed by gently warming the honey to remelt it. Some honeys set naturally with large granules and taste a little like granulated sugar in honey. Others set like royal icing - very hard and unspreadable. To overcome this problem beekeepers will mix in a small amount of fine-grained honey before it sets and then gently stir the honey to fix the setting prematurely, before it becomes hard, thereby producing a "soft set" honey.
Spun honey See whipped honey.

[edit] See also

Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on

Honey

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