Origin and properties of honey

Honey is a natural sweet substance that is fully brewed by honeybees after collecting nectar, secretion or honeydew of plants and combining with their own secretions. It contains inorganic substances, organic substances, glucose, active enzymes, trace elements and amino acid.

Honey contains glucose and fructose, accounting for about 65-80%; sucrose is very little, no more than 8%; moisture is 16-25%; dextrin and non-sugar substances, minerals, organic acids and other content are about 5%. In addition, it also contains a small amount of enzymes, aromatic substances and vitamins. Different types of honey source plants have different honey composition.

Honey is generally a viscous transparent or translucent colloidal liquid, and some honey may crystallize when placed at a lower temperature.

The color of honey varies greatly from water white to dark amber, because honey has a special aroma of different flowers because of different varieties of nectar plants.

The effect of honey

According to the "Compendium of Materia Medica" and "Chinese Dictionary" and other records, honey has the pharmacological characteristics of clearing heat, invigorating qi and invigorating the middle, detoxification, moisturizing and relieving pain. It is a traditional and ancient natural food and pharmaceutical raw material for human beings.

1. Honey can improve the composition of blood and promote the function of heart, brain and blood vessels, so it is very beneficial for cardiovascular patients to take it often;

2. Honey has a protective effect on the liver, can promote the regeneration of liver cells, and has a certain inhibitory effect on the formation of fatty liver;

3. Eating honey can quickly replenish physical strength, eliminate fatigue, and enhance resistance to diseases;

4. Honey also has a bactericidal effect. Regular consumption of honey not only does not hinder the teeth, but also has a bactericidal effect in the oral cavity;

5. Honey can treat moderate skin injuries, especially scalds. When honey is used as a skin wound dressing, bacteria cannot grow;

6. Honey can improve the quality of sleep. People with insomnia take 1 tablespoon of honey (add to 1 cup of warm water) orally before going to bed every day, which can help to fall asleep as soon as possible;

7. Honey has a cosmetic effect. When fresh honey is applied to the skin, it can moisturize and nourish the skin, making the skin delicate, smooth and elastic;

8. Honey can also relax the bowels and laxatives (this statement only applies to locust nectar, linden honey, etc., not jujube nectar).

How to eat honey

Honey can be taken directly or diluted with warm or cold water below 40 degrees. In addition, honey can also be mixed into milk, herbal tea and beverages, can also be used as a sauce for coating bread, etc., and can also be used to make cakes, candies and other foods.

Precautions for eating honey

1. Diabetic patients and infants under one year old should not eat honey.

2. It should not be eaten with tofu. Tofu is sweet, salty, cold in nature, and can clear heat and disperse blood. Eating with honey can easily lead to diarrhea. At the same time, a variety of enzymes in honey, a variety of minerals, vegetable proteins, organic acids in tofu, etc., are not conducive to the biochemical reaction of the human body when they are eaten together.

3. It is not advisable to eat with leeks. Leeks are rich in vitamin C, and are easily oxidized by minerals such as copper and iron in honey and lose their effect. In addition, honey can laxative, leek is rich in cellulose and catharsis, which can easily cause diarrhea.

4. It is not advisable to eat with onions. The nutritional composition of honey is relatively complex. After eating onion honey together, organic acids and enzymes in honey meet sulfur-containing amino acids in onion, etc., which will cause harmful biochemical reactions, or produce toxic substances, which stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and cause diarrhea.

5. It is not advisable to use boiling water or high temperature to cook honey, because unreasonable heating will seriously destroy the nutrients in honey, inactivate enzymes in honey, darken the color, volatilize the aroma, change the taste, and have an unpleasant sour taste when eating. .

Sensory identification of honey

In the sensory identification of honey, it is mainly based on the following aspects:

1. Observe its color depth, whether it is shiny, whether its tissue state is colloidal, and how sticky it is;

2. Pay attention to the presence or absence of precipitation, impurities, bubbles, etc.;

3. Smell whether the smell is pleasant and pleasant, and whether there is a fermented sour taste, wine smell and other peculiar smells;

4. Taste the taste and perceive whether the taste is sweet and pure, whether there are any bad tastes such as bitterness, sourness and metallic taste, and numbness on the tongue.