Properties of Honey

Honey gathered from different flowers and from different parts of the world has different efficacies in treating different maladies unique to that region. Only a few of these remedies will be mentioned here  

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Viuda-Martos M, Ruiz-Navajas Y, Femandez-Lopez J and Perez-Alvarez JA. 2008. Functional properties of honey, propolis, and royal jelly. J Food Sci 73(9) R117—R124. 

Several factors influence the formation of HMF in honey temperature and time of heating storage conditions use of metallic containers and the chemical properties of honey, which are related to the floral source from which the honey has been extracted, these indicate pH, total acidity, mineral content however, no information on the conelation between chemical characteristics and HMF level of the honey is available. 

This study has two goals The first one is to investigate the effects of storage on HMF formation and diastase activity of honey. Second one is to determine HMF level and formation kinetics of honey after heating process. For this purpose 40 samples of honey were collected from Middle Anatolia and surrounding areas. The physicochemical properties of honey collected were determined. The obtained data were compared with results of other researchers. 

The composition and properties of honey are dependent on floral origins utilized by the bees and the climatic conditions of the area from which honey is harvested /i, 2], Honey is a complex mixture, mainly composed of water, sugars (glucose, fmctose,... 

Although many people recognize the nutritional properties of honey, not many realize that there is much more to honey than meets the eye. One of nature s oldest medicines, scientists are discovering that honey has unique healing powers. 

Yorish, N., Curative Properties of Honey and Bee Venom, University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, HI, 2001. 

Despite the excellent properties of honey, mead production faces several problems, namely, delays and pouts fermentations, lack of product uniformity, and production of yeast off-flavors. Many factors might be related with these problems, such as honey variety, temperature, medium composition (vitamin and nitrogen content), fermentative yeast, and pH. Due to all these factors, mead production has decreased over the years. To overcome this situation, more research is needed to optimize the production of this beverage. 

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. 

Efem, S.E.E., 1988. Clinical observations on the wound-healing properties of honey. British Journal of Surgery 75 (7), 679—681. 

Guo, W., Liu, Y., Zhu, X., Wang, S. (2011). Temjjerature-dependent dielectric properties of honey associated with dielectric heating. Journal of Food Engineering, 102., 3., 209-216., 0260-8774... 

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