Honey water content

Highly diluted honey is unlikely a realistic adulteration practice. Honey water content can naturally be lower than 13.6% or higher than 23% based on the source of the honey, climate conditions, and other factors. Fermentation does not usually become a problem in honeys if water content is less than 18%. 

The water content in honey is generally less than 20%. Any excess of water can be removed by centrifugation or vacuum evaporation. If water is artificially added into honeys, it can cause honey fermentation. The water content in honey needs to be in a normal range such as 15.5-18.6% as recommended by the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America. 

Mateo, R. and Bosch-Reig, F. (1998). Classification of Spanish unifloral honeys by discriminant analysis of electrical conductivity, color, water content, sugars, and pH. /. Agric. Food Chem. 46, 393 00. 

Viscosity is one of the physical properties of honey that depends on its water content (Olaitan et ah, 2007). Moreover, the content of insoluble matter in water present in the honey is an important method for detecting impurities. The impurities content must not exceed the maximum allow limit of 0.1 g/100 g. 

Mead is a yeast-derived alcoholic beverage varying in alcohol content between 8% and 18% (Navratil et al., 2001). It is produced from a dilute solution of honey, obtained by adding an adequate amount of water or fruit juice. Honey can be diluted in different proportions, for example, 1 0.5, 1 1, 1 2, and 1 3 (honey water). Each produces different types of mead. 

During mead fermentation, several problems are generally encountered. For example, the anticipated alcohol content may not be achieved within the time desired. There may also be a lack of uniformity in the final product, due to differences in water content of the honey used. In some situations, such as worts with high sugar contents, successive addition of honey is needed to avoid premature termination of fermentation. This likelihood of stuck fermentation is increased as most mead is made empirically, without adjustments. This can lead to subsequent yeast refermentation and secondary fermentations by lactic and acetic acid bacteria. These can undesirably increase acidity and the production of volatile esters (Casellas, 2005). The presence of these compounds alters... 

Royal jelly. Nutritional paste prepared by nurse bees tom head gland secretions and honey stomach contents for rearing queen bee larvae. R. j. contains ca. 24% water, 31% protein, 15% carbohydrates, 15% ether-soluble components as well as 2% ash, and further trace elements such as iron, manganese, nickel, cobalt, etc., and various vitamins. Although synthetically prepared R. j. keeps the larvae alive it does not result in the development of a queen bee. R. j. differs from the breeding nutrition of worker bees by having higher concentrations of neopterin, biopterin, and... 

Honey density (at 20 °C) depends on the water content and may range from 1.4404 (14% water) to 1.3550 (21% water). Honey is hygroscopic and hence is kept in airtight containers. Viscosity data at various temperatures are given in Table 19.10. Most honeys behave like Newtonian fluids. Some, however, such as alfalfa honey, show thixotropic properties which are traceable to the presence of proteins, or dilating properties (as with op-untia cactus honey) due to the presence of trace amounts of dextran. 

The water content of honey should be less than 20%. Honey with higher water content is readily susceptible to fermentation by osmophilic yeasts. Yeast fermentation is negligible when the water contents is less than 17.1%, while between 17.1 and 20% fermentation depends on the count of osmophilic yeast buds. 

The amount of water in honey depends upon the type and quahty of the honey. Good quahty honey essentially has a low water content (generally about 17%). Honey is likely to ferment and lose its freshness if the water content is higher than 19%. 

To illustrate the use of LDA for food authentication, an example involving the classification of honey samples according to their floral origin will be used [15]. In particular, the data set comprises the results of 15 determinations— pH free, lactone, and total acidity diastase water content specific conductivity dextrose, fiructose and DP2 colour specific rotation hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) content and (on the whole sample and on the... 

Another extension of the DFG S19 method was achieved by applying it successfully to foodstuffs of animal origin such as whole milk and egg, muscle meat, offal, fat and honey. Depending on water and fat content, either water-acetone (e.g. for milk, meat, possibly egg and honey) or acetone-acetonitrile (e.g. for offal, egg, fat) solvent extraction is preferable. When high fat or oil contents in the raw extract are expected,... 

Typically, sorption isotherms are constructed for a single food ingredient or food system. An alternative approach is to plot the moisture content versus water activity (or relative vapor pressure) values for a variety of as is food ingredients and food systems. The result is a composite food isotherm (Figure 17). The composite isotherm fits the typical shape observed for a sorption isotherm for an individual food system, with a few products falling above or below the isotherm curve (chewing gum, honey, raisins, bread, and colby and cheddar cheeses). Slade and Levine (1991) were the first to construct such a plot using moisture content and aw values from van den... 

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