Honey is produced by honeybees and used by humans as a food and medicine. It is produced from the nectar of flowers or from excretory products of insects.
This is what you should know about honey
More than 250 natural ingredients have been found in bee honey so far. Among them are many amino acids, minerals, vitamins and trace elements. Roughly described, honey consists of 72 percent simple sugars, 18 percent water, 8 percent polysaccharides and 2 percent other substances. Honey is produced by bees taking up sweet juices and nectarial juices from plants, changing them in their bodies and then storing them in the honeycombs of the beehive and allowing them to mature. With its proboscis, the bee can suck up nectar or honeydew. Honeydew is an excretory product of various insects. The bees store the nectar and honeydew in their honey bladder and transport both to the hive. There, the sugary sap from the honey bladder is released to the hive bees. Hive bees are workers. They carry the sap around several times, first absorbing it into their own bee body and then delivering it to a new location. During transport and transfer, the bees add acids, proteins and enzymes to the collected nectar. This turns the sucrose in the nectar into invert sugar. Glucose and fructose are isomerized. This in turn produces higher saccharides. The flower nectar is also thickened, so that a water content of less than 20 percent is usually achieved. Inhibins are also formed. Inhibins can inhibit the development and growth of bacteria and yeasts. At this point, the drying process of the honey is also completed. The honey is now stored in special cells directly above the brood nest. To protect it, it is sealed with a layer of beeswax that is impermeable to air. This process is also called capping. Honey was probably used by humans as a foodstuff as early as the Stone Age. For a long time it was the only sweetener. The domestic beekeeping and the specific production of honey have their origin probably in the 7th millennium before Christ in Anatolia. In Egypt, 3000 years before the birth of Christ, honey was considered the food of the gods. Numerous doctors and scholars of antiquity described the healing properties of honey. Since sugar can be extracted industrially from sugar beets, honey has lost its importance as a sweetener. Today, honey is mainly appreciated as a sweet and tasty spread. The main producer of honey is Asia, followed by Europe and Central and North America. Worldwide honey production is about 1.3 tons per year.
Importance for health
In Greek mythology, the gods owed their immortality to honey. Hippocrates, a physician of antiquity, reported the fever-reducing effect of the bee’s gold. Even if honey is not so present today as a remedy, there are certainly studies that confirm the effectiveness of the bee product. A New Zealand researcher showed that about 60 different species of bacteria are sensitive to honey. Even antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be killed with the help of wound dressings made of honey. The antimicrobial effect of honey is probably due to the bee enzymes it contains. Glucose oxidase also seems to play a role. It is broken down in the body to hydrogen peroxide. This substance in turn has antibacterial and antiviral effects. The flavonoids of honey also have antiviral and anticancer effects. The flavonoid pinocembrin also has an anti-inflammatory effect. This is one reason why honey can be soothing for sore throats.
Ingredients and nutritional values
More than 250 natural ingredients have been found in bee honey so far. Among them are many amino acids, minerals, vitamins and trace elements. Roughly described, honey consists of 72 percent simple sugars, 18 percent water, 8 percent polysaccharides and 2 percent other substances. The exact composition differs depending on the type of honey. In contrast to sugar, honey contains many simple sugars such as fructose, maltose, melezitose or glucose. It is easy on the digestive system and is suitable as a quick source of energy. Despite its high sugar content, honey is low in calories compared to other sweet treats. On 100 grams honey contains about 300 calories. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium are contained in honey, as well as various vitamins in small quantities.The ingredient glucose oxidase is responsible for the healing effect of honey.
Intolerances and allergies
Allergies to honey occur very rarely. Whether the honey itself or residues of pollen are responsible for the allergies is currently not yet clear. More often than allergy, intolerance occurs. However, honey contains a lot of fructose and is therefore not tolerated by people with fructose intolerance. Bee honey is also not suitable for infants under one year of age. It may contain spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. In adults, these small amounts of spores are rendered harmless directly in the stomach and intestines. However, the infant’s intestinal flora is not yet developed enough to eliminate the pathogen. The spores sprout in the baby’s intestine and produce a muscle-paralyzing neurotoxin. The condition is also called infant botulism.
Shopping and kitchen tips
The taste and quality of honey depends on the location of the bee colonies, the time of harvest, and the plants from which the bees collected the nectar. Which nectar sources the bees visited can be detected by analyzing the pollen in the honey. For a honey to be considered varietally pure, a certain proportion of the respective pollen must be present. The majority of German bee honeys are produced in a bee-friendly and environmentally friendly manner. If you buy honey from a nearby beekeeper, you know for sure where the honey comes from. Members of the German Beekeepers Association are allowed to sell their honey under the brand name “Genuine German Honey.” Many of the German beekeepers do not carry an organic seal. Although honey is generally a raw and natural product even without an organic seal, the requirements are much stricter for organic products. Thus, no residues of pesticides or insecticides are allowed in the honey. Also the bee boxes may consist only of natural materials. Likewise, the wax plates in the beehive must not contain any residues. Of course, the flight of the bees cannot be controlled, so nectar from conventional acreage may well find its way into the organic honey. The origin must be noted on the labels of the honey jars. Honey from EC countries is always preferable. Only here is the welfare of the bees as well as the ecological compatibility guaranteed. In order to preserve the quality of honey for as long as possible, good storage is necessary. The bee product should be stored in a cool place and protected from direct sunlight. Storage in the refrigerator is not recommended
Preparation tips
Honey is sensitive to heat. If heated for too long or heated at too high a temperature, the honey’s healthy ingredients are lost. It should therefore always be added to the finished dish first and not cooked with it. Honey tastes good as a sweet spread. However, it also refines cheese dishes, sauces and baked goods with its fine aroma.
