Transcript honey - Chemistryonthebrain

HONEY
By: Arieal Lombard
Final Project
Chemistry
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 Characteristics
pH
Honey 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 Point
Protein 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