An Overview of Honey

I had read a very interesting articles reviewing honey. I wish to share the summary of part of the review article.

 

Honey is a natural substance produced when the nectar and sweet deposits from plants are gathered, modified, and stored in the honeycombs by honeybees. Honey can be classified as floral and non floral honey. Floral honey is made by the nectar collected from flowers. Non floral honey is made by bees that extracts sugars from living tissues of plants or fruits or scavenge the excretions of insects.  Honey’s colour, aroma, flavour, density, and physical and chemical properties depend on the flowers used by bees.

The nutrition values and profiles vary according to the composition of honey. Carbohydrates constitute about 95-97% of the dry weight of honey. Water is quantitatively the second most important component of honey. Only honey with less than 80% water can be stored with little or no risk fermentation.  The protein content is roughly 0.5% of which are mainly enzymes and free amino acids.

Fructose and glucose are the most predominant sugars present in honey. Approximately 18 essential and non essential amino acids are present in honey.  Proline is the primary amino acid and lysine being the second most prevalent. Vitamins and minerals such as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and calcium in honey depend on it’s botanical and geographical origin.

Honey is found to be suitable sweetener in fermented milk product without inhibiting the growth of common bacteria like Streptococcus thermophiles, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus delbbruekii, and Bifidobacterium bifidum which are important for maintaining a healthy gastrointestinal tract. Honey acts as a prebiotic in probiotic cultures.

Honey’s carbohydrates are easily to be digested and quickly transported into blood and can be utilized for energy requirement by human body. Hence, honey is particularly recommended for children and sportsmen.