Honey is the food of bees and is produced
by the same on the basis of sugary substances that collect in nature. The main sources of supply are the nectar, which is produced by flowering plants, and the honeydew, which is a derivative of the sap of the trees, produced by certain sucking insects, which transform the sap of plants by keeping the nitrogen and expelling the liquid Excess sugar-rich. The bees suck these sugary liquids very diluted that transform into honey by special glands located in 'craw (stomach mellifico, ie a lot extensible wall constituted by a dilation of the esophagus, where the nectar undergoes a first processing chemical-physical which converts it into honey). Nell'ingluvie adds to the nectar an enzyme called invertase that has the ability to hydrolyze sucrose into glucose and fructose. hive, honey (still too liquid), is regurgitated into hexagonal cells of wax, the bees evaporate ' excess water by means of ventilation, obtained by a rapid movement of the wings, as long as drops below 20%, after which hermetically seals the cells with a layer of wax.
During a good season bees accumulate, for their livelihood , a quantity of honey generally much higher than their needs; advantage of what the beekeeper extracts honey doing spin around the combs in a cylindrical container. In this phase, the honey is still a liquid more or less dense, but with the passage of time (variable depending on the type of honey and temperature) it crystallizes (only very few varieties of honey does not crystallize never).
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Photo: Honey in the comb
The heat treatments, used to maintain the honey to the liquid state, deprive the honey of many nutrients (enzymes, vitamins thermolabile). It is therefore preferable to use crystallized honey or creamy outside of the production period.
1. Types of honey
When a honey comes mostly from the nectar of a single variety of flowers, is said to be single-flower and takes the name of the related plant: acacia honey, sunflower honey, linden honey, chestnut honey, etc.. Each of these honeys is distinguished by particular characteristics regarding the composition, the taste and other properties. However, the honey coming from all varieties of flowers present in the zone where the apiary is situated is called "millefiori". deserves a special mention honey acacia honey that is certainly one of the more palatable for its delicate flavor and presents the rare characteristic of naturally preserved fluid. Another special honey is honey honeydew, which is the honey coming from sugary secretions produced by plants (manna), or organisms that live on the plants themselves (eg aphids). This honey is dark brown in color, contains a greater amount of minerals and has a pleasant bitter aftertaste.
Photo: Acacia honey with manna
2. Compsizione chemical
composition of honey is very complex and still remains a small fraction yet to be discovered. The main components of honey are:
composition of honey is very complex and still remains a small fraction yet to be discovered. The main components of honey are:
- sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltosi, other sugars)
- about 17% water
- trace elements
- other substance
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The sugars are present in variable amounts, on average around 72%. Of these, the monosaccharides fructose and glucose increased from about 70% in honeydew honeys, until you get very close to 100% in some honeys. Except for a few cases, the sugar fructose is always the most represented in honey. The presence of fructose in honey gives a higher sweetening power to refined sugar but also a source of energy that our body can take longer, because to be used, it must first be converted to glucose and then into glycogen, the "fuel "of our muscles. Honey is therefore advisable to athletes before beginning physical activity, thanks caloric intake by about 300 calories per 100 grams. The disaccharides present in honey are mainly maltose and sucrose (7.3% and 1.3%). The higher sugars, composed of more than two simple sugars, are normally located under the 1.5% of honey, but some types of honey can contain up to 8% and more.
Up to now have been identified fifteen different sugars in honey, However, in the same trial of honey, never were together. In addition to those mentioned above, have been identified isomaltose, turanose, maltulosio, nigerosio, kojibiosio, leucrosio, melesitosio, erlose, kestosio, raffinose and desstrantriosio however research shows that the list is not closed yet.
In honey there is a fair amount of trace elements such as: Minerals : phosphorus, calcium, sodium, potassium, selenium, zinc, manganese, but also copper, iron, iodine, silicon and chromium, present mainly in honeys darker. Vitamins Honey is relatively poor in vitamins compared to other natural foods. Has a low content of fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A and D), it contains vitamins of the B group (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid) and small concentrations of vitamins C and K. Almost always the vitamins have their origin in the pollen content in suspension. Enzymes The origin of the enzymes in the honey is twofold: from the nectar and salivary secretions of bees. The best known are invertase, responsible for the hydrolysis of disaccharides and amylase that breaks down starch. Moreover, the honey contains other enzymes, including a catalase, a phosphatase and a glucose oxidase, which converts glucose to gluconic acid. The ease with which these enzymes are destroyed by heat allows their use as indicators of overheating of honey. bactericidal substances (formic acid) and antibiotic (germicidina). These categories of substances, in particular, allow the honey to be stored for long periods, and justify their use as a disinfectant natural . Amino acids and protein nitrogenous substances represent only a small percentage in pure honey. The level of nitrogen in honey is an average of 0.04%, which, transformed in proteins, gives about 0.26%. Proteins and amino acids can have various origins: nectar secretions from bees, pollen grains. A special mention should be made of heather honey (Calluna vulgaris): its viscosity "abnormal" (thixotropy) is due to the presence a protein found in the nectar of Calluna vulgaris. When the honey is pure, the protein may reach 2% Other substances : pollen grains, wax, aromatic substances, higher alcohols. As we have seen, unlike common sugar (pure sucrose), in the composition of honey are also salts minerals, enzymes, amino acids, hormones, vitamins and other substances still in a balanced dosage, such as to make honey, a food "alive", a true miracle of nature. The chemical parameters most often considered as indicators of the quality of honey are HMF and enzyme diastase. The HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural), is a substance that is not found in honey just extracted but is formed following the degradation of the sugars, the process accelerated by temperatures. The Diastase is an enzyme present in honey so natural , progressively degrades both with the passage of time with thermal processes. The HMF should not exceed 20 mg / kg, while the content in Diastase is very variable (dependent on the amount natural enzymes present) generally must be greater than 8, although there are exceptions.
Up to now have been identified fifteen different sugars in honey, However, in the same trial of honey, never were together. In addition to those mentioned above, have been identified isomaltose, turanose, maltulosio, nigerosio, kojibiosio, leucrosio, melesitosio, erlose, kestosio, raffinose and desstrantriosio however research shows that the list is not closed yet.
In honey there is a fair amount of trace elements such as: Minerals : phosphorus, calcium, sodium, potassium, selenium, zinc, manganese, but also copper, iron, iodine, silicon and chromium, present mainly in honeys darker. Vitamins Honey is relatively poor in vitamins compared to other natural foods. Has a low content of fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A and D), it contains vitamins of the B group (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid) and small concentrations of vitamins C and K. Almost always the vitamins have their origin in the pollen content in suspension. Enzymes The origin of the enzymes in the honey is twofold: from the nectar and salivary secretions of bees. The best known are invertase, responsible for the hydrolysis of disaccharides and amylase that breaks down starch. Moreover, the honey contains other enzymes, including a catalase, a phosphatase and a glucose oxidase, which converts glucose to gluconic acid. The ease with which these enzymes are destroyed by heat allows their use as indicators of overheating of honey. bactericidal substances (formic acid) and antibiotic (germicidina). These categories of substances, in particular, allow the honey to be stored for long periods, and justify their use as a disinfectant natural . Amino acids and protein nitrogenous substances represent only a small percentage in pure honey. The level of nitrogen in honey is an average of 0.04%, which, transformed in proteins, gives about 0.26%. Proteins and amino acids can have various origins: nectar secretions from bees, pollen grains. A special mention should be made of heather honey (Calluna vulgaris): its viscosity "abnormal" (thixotropy) is due to the presence a protein found in the nectar of Calluna vulgaris. When the honey is pure, the protein may reach 2% Other substances : pollen grains, wax, aromatic substances, higher alcohols. As we have seen, unlike common sugar (pure sucrose), in the composition of honey are also salts minerals, enzymes, amino acids, hormones, vitamins and other substances still in a balanced dosage, such as to make honey, a food "alive", a true miracle of nature. The chemical parameters most often considered as indicators of the quality of honey are HMF and enzyme diastase. The HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural), is a substance that is not found in honey just extracted but is formed following the degradation of the sugars, the process accelerated by temperatures. The Diastase is an enzyme present in honey so natural , progressively degrades both with the passage of time with thermal processes. The HMF should not exceed 20 mg / kg, while the content in Diastase is very variable (dependent on the amount natural enzymes present) generally must be greater than 8, although there are exceptions.
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