natural honey

Honey

It is an important medicinal and nutritional substance containing sugars, mostly monosaccharides, yeasts, amino acids, vitamins, and various minerals. Honey is made from flower nectar collected by worker bees from various flowers spread throughout the pastures surrounding the apiary. After this nectar is partially digested and reduced in moisture, it is transformed into a sugary liquid. It is stored in hexagonal honeycombs, sealed with wax caps. The purpose of this storage is to provide food for the hive and to survive the winter. Honey produced by bees living freely in the wild is commonly called wild honey. The FAO classifies it as a non-wood forest product. Honey is known to most people as an important food substance for the human body and health. Modern science and cultural tradition have also confirmed that honey is a natural antibiotic and tonic for the human body, strengthening the immune system, which fights all diseases that attack it. It also has proven properties in treating burns, wounds, and many other ailments.

The benefits of honey stem from its nutritional content. Honey is primarily composed of carbohydrates, which are in the form of monosaccharides (glucose and fructose), comprising approximately 95% of the weight of honey. It also contains a small amount of amino acids and proteins, which constitute 0.7% of its weight. It is worth noting that honey proteins are enzymes added by bees during the honey ripening process. The main amino acid in honey is proline, which is an indicator of honey ripeness. Honey also contains potassium, a key mineral found in certain vitamins, such as vitamin C, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, and vitamin B5.

Why doesn't honey expire? Honey has this property because it doesn't contain much water in its natural state. Due to its low humidity, bacteria and microorganisms that cause food spoilage cannot multiply and survive in a dry environment like honey.

Honey is also an acidic product with a high pH level. This high acidity means it will kill or repel any bacteria that might attempt to multiply within it. If stored properly in a tightly sealed, crystalline container, it will not be exposed to moisture that could spoil it and will remain fresh for a long time.

Is honey still edible after it crystallizes? Sometimes honey crystallizes and solidifies, which is why some people think it's gone bad and throw it away. However, this change in its state means you have high-quality raw honey.

Honey Crystallization

What Is Honey Crystallization?

Honey crystallization (granulation, solidification, sugaring, or grinding) is a natural change in liquid honey due to several factors. Honey is a viscous liquid when it matures, then gradually crystallizes until it solidifies.

Many questions arise about this crystallization, and many people may believe that this honey is adulterated and unnatural. However, these opinions are certainly incorrect. All pure, natural honey can crystallize. Honey is a sugar solution.

As we know, the primary sugars in honey are glucose, fructose, and sucrose. The sugar that crystallizes is glucose, while the fructose and sucrose remain dissolved in the solution. Crystallized honey is honey that has been filtered in its natural state and left at a temperature below 22°C. The sugars collect in the form of Crystals give the honey a granular appearance and cloud the honey while simultaneously hardening its consistency, forming a thin, white, granular film on its surface that gradually thickens. This results from the crystallization of glucose, while fructose remains dissolved in the water that remains between the glucose crystals. The granular structure gradually encompasses the entire honey mass.

Some types of honey crystallize more rapidly than others, while others never crystallize.

Honeys with a high fructose content crystallize slowly, while those with a high glucose content crystallize quickly.

Therefore, it is clear that some honeys never crystallize, while others crystallize within a few days after sorting, or even while still inside the wax combs.

Some people may perceive this as a form of fraud, but this is a misconception. Experiments have shown that the size and speed of crystal formation depend on several factors, the most important of which is the number of primary glucose crystals present in the honey during its sorting. It has been found that honey extracted from old wax combs that have been reused over several seasons crystallizes quickly.

Available at Al-Sinan Natural Honey

Natural Honey - Natural Mixtures - Saffron and Frankincense

Dawani Mountain Sidr Honey (Yemeni)