Common properties of honey
Honey is a product of the vital activity of honey bees. It is formed as a result of careful processing of nectar collected from various parts of plants( flowers, shrubs, trees), sweet juices or padi substances emanating from the salivary glands of an insect.
The raw materials are enriched with enzymes, lipids and organic acids during processing. Placed in wax combs and hermetically sealed with wax lids from moisture and contamination, it continues to be processed and only then turns into honey.
The best honey varieties are considered to be "gravity", that is, they are obtained by flowing out of honeycombs under the influence of their own gravity or when honey is extracted from honeycombs by processing in special apparatus with centrifuges. Such varieties are characterized by a minimum moisture content. Less valuable are varieties of honey with high humidity, which are obtained by heating it out of honeycombs on fire.
Fresh honey initially represents a thick mass, which during the course of storage begins to crystallize gradually.
The nature and speed of the crystallization process depends on the sugar in the composition( for example, the more glucose contains honey, the thicker and faster it crystallizes).
Depending on the plants from which the bees collect nectar, honey gets its name. There are two main types of honey, which differ in raw materials: floral and padeevy.
The most popular and popular among the people are varieties of natural flower honey: acacia, sweet, sunflower, linden, buckwheat.
Varieties of honey differ primarily in color, aroma and taste. The color is determined by the dyeing substances( carotene, xanthophyll, etc.) found in nectar. Light varieties are more popular, but you should know that dark varieties are more rich in minerals necessary for the body.
In the process of long-term storage, honey changes its color and structure. In the beginning, it usually darkens, and then begins to crystallize and brightens.
The most common varieties of honey are characterized by the following characteristics: from sunflower - light golden color, with a weak odor, from a linden color - light yellow color, with a sharp taste;buckwheat honey has a brownish color, a faint aroma;Acacia - transparent with a concentrated odor, heather - dark yellow color, with a strong aroma.
In some localities or in unfavorable weather or natural conditions, when there is not enough flower material, bees collect honey from deciduous and coniferous trees, as well as excretions of various insects( herbaceous aphids, meds, etc.).Such honey was called "padewy".
Plants from which bees collect nectar have different smells, which are transferred to one or another type of honey, which determines the specific aroma of each. Therefore, the smell is almost impossible to err in the origin of the raw materials of honey. The strength of the aroma of the final product of processing nectar, i.e. honey, depends on the concentration of volatile organic substances.
Fructose( fruit sugar) along with glucose( grape sugar) are carbohydrates, which constitute the main constituent of all varieties of honey - up to 77%.
In addition to fructose and glucose, honey contains about 3% of the more complex carbohydrate of sugar - sucrose, which during the transformation of nectar into honey under the influence of enzymes is split into simpler carbohydrates.
Along with carbohydrates honey also contains protein( from 0.3 to 3.3%) and mineral substances( 0.05-0.5%), water is exquisite and very pleasant sweet taste.
This unique natural product in composition is similar to human blood plasma. It contains a lot of minerals( calcium, sulfur, iodine, chlorine, sodium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus), as well as macro- and microelements necessary for metabolic processes( lead, tin, zinc, osmium, manganese, lithium, nickel, silicon, aluminum, phosphorus, copper, boron, chromium, etc.).It contains vitamins such as: В, null, В2, В6, Е, С, К, Н, carotene, biotin, various acids, including organic( tartaric, citric, malic, lactic, oxalic, pantothenic acid, nicotinic, folic, ascorbic, etc.), such important enzymes as diastase, amylase, catalase, invertase, phosphatase.
Each component, getting into the human body, takes part in vital processes. For example, iron and copper - in the process of hematopoiesis, calcium - in strengthening bone tissue, iodine - in the normalization of the functioning of the thyroid gland, etc.
Vitamins are also important for humans. For example, vitamin B2( riboflavin) is indispensable in the normal exchange of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, it is especially beneficial for the quality of vision. Vitamin B6( pyridoxine) has an effect on muscle tone and the state of the nervous system. Vitamin H stabilizes fat metabolism, not allowing internal organs to accumulate excess fat deposits. Vitamin K improves blood composition, increasing its coagulability. Universal vitamin C( ascorbic acid) takes part in the most diverse processes occurring in the body.