HONEY(RAW)

Listing description

Honey /ˈhʌni/ is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees (the genus Apis) is the one most commonly referred to, as it is the type of honey collected by most beekeepers and consumed by people. Honeys are also produced by bumblebees, stingless bees, and other hymenopteran insects such as honey wasps, though the quantity is generally lower and they have slightly different properties compared to honey from the genus Apis.

Detailed description

Honey bees convert nectar into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation. They store it as a primary food source in wax honeycombs inside the beehive.
Honey gets its sweetness from the monosaccharides fructose and glucose, and has about the same relative sweetness as granulated sugar.^[1][2] It has attractive chemical properties for baking and a distinctive flavor that leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.^[1] Most microorganisms do not grow in honey because of its low water activity of 0.6.^[3] However, honey sometimes contains dormant endospores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can be dangerous to infants, as the endospores can transform into toxin-producing bacteria in infants' immature intestinal tracts, leading to illness and even death.^[4]
People who have a weakened immune system should not eat honey because of the risk of bacterial or fungal infection.^[5] No evidence shows any benefit of using honey to treat diseases.^[5] Providing 64 calories in a typical serving of one tablespoon, honey contains no significant nutrient content.^[6]
Honey use and production has a long and varied history.^[7] Honey collection is an ancient activity.^[8] Humans apparently began hunting for honey at least 8,000 years ago, as evidenced by a cave painting in Valencia, Spain.^[8]

Formation

Honey is produced by bees from nectar collection which serves the dual purpose to support metabolism of muscle activity during foraging and for long-term food storage as honey.^[9][10] During foraging, bees access part of the nectar collected to support metabolic activity of flight muscles by hydrolyzing sucrose to glucose and fructose, with the majority of collected nectar destined for regurgitation, digestion and storage as honey.^[9][11] In cold weather or when other food sources are scarce, adult and larval bees use stored honey as food.^[10]
By contriving for bee swarms to nest in artificial hives, people have been able to semidomesticate the insects and harvest excess honey. In the hive or in a wild nest, the three types of bees are:

• a single female queen bee
• a seasonally variable number of male drone bees to fertilize new queens
• 20,000 to 40,000 female worker bees^[12]

Leaving the hive, foraging bees collect sugar-rich flower nectar and return to the hive where they use their "honey stomachs" to ingest and regurgitate the nectar repeatedly until it is partially digested.^[9][11][13] Bee digestive enzymes - invertase, amylase and diastase - and gastric acid hydrolyze sucrose to a mixture of glucose and fructose.^[9][11] The bees work together as a group with the regurgitation and digestion for as long as 20 minutes until the product reaches storage quality.^[11] It is then placed in honeycomb cells left unsealed while still high in water content (about 20%) and natural yeasts, which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the newly formed honey to ferment.^[10] The process continues as hive bees flutter their wings constantly to circulate air and evaporate water from the honey to a content of about 18%, raising the sugar concentration and preventing fermentation.^[10][11] The bees then cap the cells with wax to seal them.^[11] As removed from the hive by a beekeeper, honey has a long shelf life and will not ferment if properly sealed.^[10]
Another source of honey is from a number of wasp species, such as the wasps Brachygastra lecheguana and Brachygastra mellifica, which are found in South and Central America. These species are known to feed on nectar and produce honey.^[14]
Some wasps, such as the Polistes versicolor, even consume honey themselves, switching from feeding on pollen in the middle of their lifecycles to feeding on honey, which can better provide for their energy needs.^[15]

Collection

Honey is collected from wild bee colonies, or from domesticated beehives. Wild bee nests are sometimes located by following a honeyguide bird. The bees may first be pacified by using smoke from a bee smoker. The smoke triggers a feeding instinct (an attempt to save the resources of the hive from a possible fire), making them less aggressive and the smoke obscures the pheromones the bees use to communicate.
The honeycomb is removed from the hive and the honey may be extracted from that, either by crushing or by using a honey extractor. The honey is then usually filtered to remove beeswax and other debris.
Before the invention of removable frames, bee colonies were often sacrificed in order to conduct the harvest. The harvester would take all the available honey and replace the entire colony the next spring. Since the invention of removable frames, the principles of husbandry lead most beekeepers to ensure that their bees will have enough stores to survive the winter, either by leaving some honey in the beehive or by providing the colony with a honey substitute such as sugar water or crystalline sugar (often in the form of a "candyboard"). The amount of food necessary to survive the winter depends on the variety of bees and on the length and severity of local winters.

Production

Top five honey producing countries (millions of tonnes)
Rank	Country	2013
1	China	0.47
2	Turkey	0.09
3	Argentina	0.08
4	Ukraine	0.07
5	Russia	0.07
--	World	1.7
Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organization, FAOSTAT[16]

In 2013, 1.7 million tonnes of honey were produced worldwide, with China itself accounting for 28% of the world total (table).^[16] The next four largest producers – Turkey, Argentina, Ukraine and Russia – accounted collectively for less than 20% of the world total (table).^[16]

Modern uses

Food

Over its history as a food,^[7] the main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, desserts, such as mel i mató, as a spread on bread, and as an addition to various beverages, such as tea, and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages. Honey barbecue and honey mustard are other common flavors used in sauces.

Fermentation

Honey is the main ingredient in the alcoholic beverage mead, which is also known as "honey wine" or "honey beer". Historically, the ferment for mead was honey's naturally occurring yeast. Honey is also used as an adjunct in some beers.
Honey wine, or mead, is typically (modern era) made with a honey and water mixture with yeast added for fermentation. Primary fermentation usually takes 40 days, after which the must needs to be racked into a secondary fermentation vessel and left to sit about 35–40 more days. If done properly, fermentation will be finished by this point (though if a sparkling mead is desired, fermentation can be restarted after bottling by the addition of a small amount of sugar), but most meads require aging for 6–9 months or more in order to be palatable.

Physical and chemical properties

The physical properties of honey vary, depending on water content, the type of flora used to produce it (pasturage), temperature, and the proportion of the specific sugars it contains. Fresh honey is a supersaturated liquid, containing more sugar than the water can typically dissolve at ambient temperatures. At room temperature, honey is a supercooled liquid, in which the glucose will precipitate into solid granules. This forms a semisolid solution of precipitated glucose crystals in a solution of fructose and other ingredients.

Phase transitions

The melting point of crystallized honey is between 40 and 50 °C (104 and 122 °F), depending on its composition. Below this temperature, honey can be either in a metastable state, meaning that it will not crystallize until a seed crystal is added, or, more often, it is in a "labile" state, being saturated with enough sugars to crystallize spontaneously.^[17] The rate of crystallization is affected by many factors, but the primary factor is the ratio of the main sugars: fructose to glucose. Honeys that are supersaturated with a very high percentage of glucose, such as brassica honey, will crystallize almost immediately after harvesting, while honeys with a low percentage of glucose, such as chestnut or tupelo honey, do not crystallize. Some types of honey may produce very large but few crystals, while others will produce many small crystals.^[18]
Crystallization is also affected by water content, because a high percentage of water will inhibit crystallization, as will a high dextrin content. Temperature also affects the rate of crystallization, with the fastest growth occurring between 13 and 17 °C (55 and 63 °F). Crystal nuclei (seeds) tend to form more readily if the honey is disturbed, by stirring, shaking or agitating, rather than if left at rest. However, the nucleation of microscopic seed-crystals is greatest between 5 and 8 °C (41 and 46 °F). Therefore, larger but fewer crystals tend to form at higher temperatures, while smaller but more-numerous crystals usually form at lower temperatures. Below 5 °C, the honey will not crystallize and, thus, the original texture and flavor can be preserved indefinitely.^[18]
Since honey normally exists below its melting point, it is a supercooled liquid. At very low temperatures, honey will not freeze solid. Instead, as the temperatures become lower, the viscosity of honey increases. Like most viscous liquids, the honey will become thick and sluggish with decreasing temperature. At −20 °C (−4 °F), honey may appear or even feel solid, but it will continue to flow at very low rates. Honey has a glass transition between −42 and −51 °C (−44 and −60 °F). Below this temperature, honey enters a glassy state and will become an amorphous solid (noncrystalline).

Viscosity

The viscosity of honey is affected greatly by both temperature and water content. The higher the water percentage, the easier honey flows. Above its melting point, however, water has little effect on viscosity. Aside from water content, the composition of honey also has little effect on viscosity, with the exception of a few types. At 25 °C (77 °F), honey with 14% water content generally has a viscosity around 400 poise, while a honey containing 20% water has a viscosity around 20 poise. Viscosity increase due to temperature occurs very slowly at first. A honey containing 16% water, at 70 °C (158 °F), will have a viscosity around 2 poise, while at 30 °C (86 °F), the viscosity is around 70 poise. As cooling progresses, honey becomes more viscous at an increasingly rapid rate, reaching 600 poise around 14 °C (57 °F). However, while honey is very viscous, it has rather low surface tension.^[21][22]
A few types of honey have unusual viscous properties. Honeys from heather or manuka display thixotropic properties. These types of honey enter a gel-like state when motionless, but then liquify when stirred.^[23]

Electrical and optical properties

Because honey contains electrolytes, in the form of acids and minerals, it exhibits varying degrees of electrical conductivity. Measurements of the electrical conductivity are used to determine the quality of honey in terms of ash content.^[22]
The effect honey has on light is useful for determining the type and quality. Variations in the water content alter the refractive index of honey. Water content can easily be measured with a refractometer. Typically, the refractive index for honey will range from 1.504 at 13% water content to 1.474 at 25%. Honey also has an effect on polarized light, in that it will rotate the polarization plane. The fructose will give a negative rotation, while the glucose will give a positive one. The overall rotation can be used to measure the ratio of the mixture.^[22][24] Honey may vary in color between pale yellow and dark brown, but other bright colors may occasionally be found, depending on the source of the sugar harvested by the bees.^[25]

Hygroscopy and fermentation

Honey has the ability to absorb moisture directly from the air, a phenomenon called hygroscopy. The amount of water the honey will absorb is dependent on the relative humidity of the air. Because honey contains yeast, this hygroscopic nature requires that honey be stored in sealed containers to prevent fermentation, which usually begins if the honey's water content rises much above 25%. Honey will tend to absorb more water in this manner than the individual sugars would allow on their own, which may be due to other ingredients it contains.^[24]
Fermentation of honey will usually occur after crystallization because, without the glucose, the liquid portion of the honey primarily consists of a concentrated mixture of the fructose, acids, and water, providing the yeast with enough of an increase in the water percentage for growth. Honey that is to be stored at room temperature for long periods of time is often pasteurized, to kill any yeast, by heating it above 70 °C (158 °F).^[24]

Thermal characteristics

Like all sugar compounds, honey will caramelize if heated sufficiently, becoming darker in color, and eventually burn. However, honey contains fructose, which caramelizes at lower temperatures than the glucose.^[26] The temperature at which caramelization begins varies, depending on the composition, but is typically between 70 and 110 °C (158 and 230 °F). Honey also contains acids, which act as catalysts, decreasing the caramelization temperature even more.^[27] Of these acids, the amino acids, which occur in very small amounts, play an important role in the darkening of honey. The amino acids form darkened compounds called melanoidins, during a Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction will occur slowly at room temperature, taking from a few to several months to show visible darkening, but will speed-up dramatically with increasing temperatures. However, the reaction can also be slowed by storing the honey at colder temperatures.^[28]
Unlike many other liquids, honey has very poor thermal conductivity, taking a long time to reach thermal equilibrium. Melting crystallized honey can easily result in localized caramelization if the heat source is too hot, or if it is not evenly distributed. However, honey will take substantially longer to liquify when just above the melting point than it will at elevated temperatures. Melting 20 kilograms of crystallized honey, at 40 °C (104 °F), can take up to 24 hours, while 50 kilograms may take twice as long. These times can be cut nearly in half by heating at 50 °C (122 °F). However, many of the minor substances in honey can be affected greatly by heating, changing the flavor, aroma, or other properties, so h

eating is usually done at the lowest temperature possible for the shortest amount of time.

PRICE

$24.2/KG OR $11/IB

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