Table of Contents
Definition of Honey
The honey is a fluid sweet and viscous produced by bees of the genus Apis. Primarily the domestic bee. The collected by the bees.
Then transformed by combining them with their materials, deposited, dehydrated, and stored in the combs for maturation. The intervention of man in the process of exploitation of honeycomb beehive is known as beekeeping.
Honey used for thousands of years around the world, whether as a flavoring for concoctions, food, or medicine.
Its composition is variable.
Its main component is carbohydrates in the form of monosaccharides such as fructose and glucose, as well as a disaccharide. Such as maltose, isomaltose, maltulose, sucrose, turanose, and nigerose.
These ingredients are responsible for the intense sweetness of honey. It also contains oligosaccharides
like paranoia, enzymes such as amylase, peroxide oxidases, catalase, and acid phosphorylase.
It also contains amino acids, some vitamins B, C, niacin, folic acid, minerals such as iron and zinc, and antioxidants. The botanical origin of kinds of honey also defines the greater or lesser ease of these to crystallize.
History Of Honey
Honey has qualities recognized by humans since ancient times, as food and to sweeten, with higher power than sugar cane. There exist many historical references to this substance.
For example, they are referred to honey as a sacred product, coming to serve as a way to pay taxes. Over 2000 years old in lightly covered jars that were still edible and only had to be heated.
There are also old records in cave paintings of the use of honey. It represents a female figure collecting honey in a tree honeycomb.
Various varieties of honey depend on the flower used as a source of nectar. The type of bee that produced it.
But since they manufacture it in an amount about three times greater than what they need to survive. It was always possible, first of all, to collect the excess of this for the human being and later.
Carry out the domestication of the bees for the specific purpose of obtaining their honey, a technique known as beekeeping.
Components Of Honey
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- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B6
- Niacin
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin C
- Pantothenic acid
- Phenolic acids
- Flavonoids
- Fatty acids
- Apigenin
- Vitamin B2
- Pinocembrina
- Acacetin
- Abscisic acid
- Ferulic acid
- Carotenoids
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin k
Precautions Of Honey
The sugars excess, such as glucose and fructose in the diet (more than 20% of the total energy). It is related to an increase in blood pressure. Increase in body fat, liver fat, cholesterol, heart problems, and diabetes.
Honey (like other sweeteners) can also be extremely dangerous for babies. Because when mixed with the child’s non-acidic digestive juices. An ideal environment creates for the growth of Clostridium botulinum spores, which produce toxins.
Botulism spores are one of the few bacteria that survive in honey. But they are also widely present in the environment.
Although these spores are harmless to adults, due to their heartburn, young children’s digestive systems not sufficiently developed to destroy them. So spores can potentially cause botulism childish.
For this reason, it is advisable not to feed honey to children under 12 months.
In many cases, the poisonous substance is grayanotoxin.
Uses Of Honey
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Gastronomic
Honey is the main uses in cooking and pastry, as an accompaniment to bread or toast (especially in breakfasts and snacks ).
It additive to various drinks such as tea. Rich in sugars like fructose, honey is hygroscopic (absorbs moisture from the air).
So adding a small amount to slices of bread and cakes makes them harden more slowly. Virgin honey also contains enzymes that help your digestion, as well as various vitamins and antioxidants.
For this reason, the consumption of honey at temperatures not exceeding 60 ° C usually recommends. Since at higher temperatures, it begins to lose beneficial properties as some of these elements volatilize.
It is the main ingredient in mead, which produces from honey and water, which is also known as “honey wine.”
Therapeutics
This has many therapeutic properties (Havsteen, 2002). It can be used externally due to its antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. Thus, it helps to heal and prevent infections in wounds or superficial burns.
It also used in cosmetics (creams, facial cleansing masks, tonics, etc.) due to its astringent and softening qualities.
Energetic
It is highly caloric (about 3.4 kcal / g), making it useful as a quick energy source.
Healing
Bees also add an enzyme called glucose oxidase. When it applies to wounds, this enzyme produces the local release of hydrogen peroxide.
It is also an excellent ingredient for making homemade face masks.
Colds, Coughs, Sore Throats
It used for the symptomatic relief of the cold. Studies in people between the ages of 2 and 18 with respiratory tract infections demonstrated. It is capable of relieving irritated membranes in the back of the throat, and it has antioxidant and antiviral effects.
Also, a report from the World Health Organization considers it safe, outside the period of lactation, to relieve cough. Its sweetness and syrup texture would calm the sore throat, but also its antioxidant content and its antimicrobial effect.
For children under one year of age, it does not recommend it because there is a danger of developing botulism. This last risk is negligible in older children. Colds are popularly fighting in some honey to sweeten the country’s lemon juice or tea of onion. The World Health Organization recommends the use of honey for cough relief in children older than one year.
However, it does not show more significant benefits than other medications such as dextromethorphan but without the associated adverse effects.
