HONEY

By: Arieal LombardFinal ProjectChemistry

What Is Honey?• Honey is an organic, natural sugar

alternative with no additives, easy on the stomach, adapts to all cooking, and has an indefinite shelf-life

• Honey is primarily composed of fructose, glucose and water. It also contains other sugars as well trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids

History• Its names comes from the English hunig, and it

was the first and most widespread sweetener used by man

• In the Old Testament of the Bible, Israel was often referred to as “the land of milk and

honey.”

• Honey was valued highly and often used as a form of currency, tribute, or offering. In the 11th

century A.D., German peasants paid their feudal lords in honey and beeswax

How Honey is Made• Bees perform the vital service of pollinating

fruits, vegetables and other types of food producing plants in the course of honey

making• The nectar mixture they gather from the flowers is carried back to the hive and placed

into the honeycomb cells• Honeybees carry the nectar and mix it with

enzymes in a pouch located in their body (which begins the process of changing the

nectar into honey• The bees then evaporate much of the water

out of the nectar mixture to thicken it

Fermentation of Honey

• Beekeepers gather the honey from the supers in the hive-A super is a section of the hive that contains several frames of honey in honeycombs

• The supers are taken to the honey house for extracting-A extractor is a machine that is made to spin the frames of honey until the honey spins out and drips down the sides of the extractor

Chemical Makeup

Chemical CharacteristicspHHoney contains a number of acids which include amino acids (0.05-0.1%)and organic acids (0.57%, range: 0.17-1.17%). The average pH of honey is 3.9(with a typical range of 3.4 to 6.1).Proteins, Amino Acids & Isoelectric PointProtein 0.266%Nitrogen 0.043%Amino Acids 0.05 – 0.1%Isoelectric Point 4.3

Why is some honey light and some dark?

• The color and taste depends on the kinds of flower the nectar came from

• Clover makes a light colored, mild tasting honey that is usually found in grocery stores

• Another popular variety is Orange Blossom honey, it is usually darker that Clover

References

•www.queenbeejan.com

•www.homecooking.about.com

•www.honey.com