Honey: A Short Overview

Honey: A Short Overview

Stephen Debique
Sole Proprietor of Criterion 63 AE
Certified Apiarist of Apiary 1624
Turtle Village of Cumana
criterion63@gmail.com
320-5445

What is Honey?
"Honey is the natural sweet substance
produced by honeybees from the nectar of
blossoms or from the secretion of living parts
of plants or excretions of plant sucking
insects on the living parts of plants, which
honeybees collect, transform and combine
with specific substances of their own, store
and leave in the honey comb to ripen and
mature.
- Codex Alimentarius (1989)

Composition

Fructose
Glucose
Sucrose
Disaccharides and Oligisaccharides
Acids
Proteins
Minerals
Enzymes
Glucose oxidase, amylase, invertase,.

Other components
Pigments, flavours, aroma compounds, choline, acetycholine

Physical Characteristics
Viscosity
Varies based on a number of properties
Thixotrophic (Leptospermum scoparium)
Temperature affects it

Density
Specific gravity greater than 1
Dependent on water content

Hygroscopicity
High

Surface tension
Low
With viscosity is responsible for foaming

Thermal properties
Low heat conductivity
Heat bath only

Colour
Clear and colourless to dark amber or black

Crystallization
Oversaturated sugar solution
Does not mean it has been adulterated with sugar

Medicinal Benefits

Medicinal Benefits

Summary

Definition of honey
Composition
Physical characteristics
Medicinal benefits

Questions