Honey is known to all. Its useful healing properties have been used by man since ancient times. There are a lot of types of honey. Among others, the so-called white honey, whose utility is priceless.
Description
White honey is an ordinary natural honey of white color, which is obtained from the fact that nectar is collected from honey plants of a certain species. At the same time, flowers in honey plants can be of any color.
White honey (photo hereinafter) does not immediately acquire its color. Freshly pumped, it is light yellow, sometimes with a greenish tint, and maybe transparent. It becomes white when it is sugared.
Honey is white, from which it does not at all follow that it should be crystal white. Usually there are yellowish-gray and other shades. Crystallizing, white honey does not lose its taste. And even acquires in quality.
It turns out that white honey is not one species, but many varieties of honey combined under this name, which are conditionally white in color and are different in composition, smell, shades, taste and properties. Moreover, the characteristics of each are determined by the nectar of those honey plants with which it is collected by bees.
Production Features
White honey belongs to monofleur species. This means that the collection of nectar was carried out in the majority from one species of plants.
In nature, this is a rarity. To get a similar product, you need to find agricultural crops (fields of sainfoin, sweet clover, rapeseed, cotton), similar wild plants in one place and in sufficient quantity.
However, this is doubly difficult, since the necessary honey plants do not bloom in the right amount every year.
Chemical composition
White honey, if it is natural, will not differ in its characteristics and composition from other beekeeping products. Differences may depend on the area of collection and pollinated plants, but on average the composition is as follows:
- Water - up to 18%;
- Carbohydrates (most of all fructose and glucose, less maltose, melicitose, etc.) - up to 80%;
- Minerals - up to 1%;
- Water-soluble vitamins, proteins, enzymes, dextrins and amino acids - up to 3%.
Active substances and their compounds are in the composition of white honey in a fairly significant amount. Scientists announced the numbers of about 400 items. This list is constantly changing, which is influenced by many factors, but unchanged in the composition of honey are:
- Minerals - potassium, iodine and their compounds. Copper, manganese, calcium, selenium, phosphorus, cobalt, aluminum, etc. occupy a little less space in the composition.
- Enzymes, proteins, dextrins, amino acids, antioxidants.
- Vitamins - ascorbic and folic acids, B vitamins, a little carotene, vitamin E, K, PP.
In addition, white honey contains phytoncides, phytohormones, essential oils, organic and inorganic acids, which depends on those plants from which nectar was collected by bees.
The properties
If the flower has some healing properties, then honey will also contain the same substances that are used for medicinal purposes. In addition, the product will acquire certain taste qualities. Common properties for all varieties of white honey are:
- antibiotic
- antiseptic;
- antipyretic;
- general strengthening;
- sedatives;
- diuretics;
- choleretic;
- laxatives.
These properties allow you to use the product to strengthen immunity and restore strength. Improve metabolism, accelerate metabolism.
Whipped to the consistency of cream white honey is successfully used in cosmetology to restore skin tone, lymphatic drainage, improve complexion, relieve various inflammations, nutrition, healing microcracks and other injuries. In addition, honey is used to cleanse the skin of impurities and remove dead cells.
White honey has been used for centuries in seasonal colds, tonsillitis, tonsillitis, laryngitis, bronchitis. Its use helped with flu, pneumonia, and even pulmonary tuberculosis. For the prevention of these diseases, unique anti-inflammatory, bactericidal and analgesic properties of white honey are used.
If the product is used in conjunction with drugs, it will enhance their effect on the body, and will also help alleviate the course of the disease.
Contraindications
Along with the beneficial properties of white honey and contraindications also have a place to be. The reason is that the product contains a large number of biologically active substances, pollen grains and carbohydrates.
Pollen has always been a fairly aggressive allergen. Therefore, white honey can not be consumed by everyone. It can cause redness and itching of the skin, digestive problems and even Quincke's edema.
People with diabetes should use white honey only after consulting with an endocrinologist, since it contains a large amount of carbohydrates. Those who follow a low-carb diet will have to adjust their menu when using this product.
With special care, white honey should be used by pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 3 years old. Phytohormones and alkaloids in pollen can unpredictably affect the body of a child. Doctors advise to completely exclude white honey from the diet for this group of people, so as not to provoke negative reactions and complications.
Sugaring process
Sugaring or crystallization of white honey is a natural and natural process, depending on various conditions and factors. One of them is the properties of glucose, the content of which in the honey is about 35 - 50% of the total amount of sugars.
Glucose crystallizes faster than other sugars. For example, fructose is similar in chemical composition to it, but it is different in the structure of the molecule and very difficult to crystallize. Therefore, if there is a lot of fructose in honey, then it will not be sugared for a long time.
The speed of the crystallization process directly depends on the ratio of glucose and fructose in its composition. Heather rich in glucose crystallizes almost immediately after pumping, and acacia honey remains liquid for many months at room temperature due to, you guessed it, a large amount of fructose. Product storage conditions also affect this process.
Storage conditions
The shelf life of white honey depends on the conditions in which it is located. If the product is stored incorrectly, it exfoliates, acquires an unpleasant smell and taste, and loses all its usefulness.
The room where honey is kept must be protected from rain, sharp chemical odors, direct sunlight and pests. You can not store honey next to onions and flour, paints and varnishes and fuels, polymeric products and toxic substances.
Storage temperature can range from 4 ° C to 10 ° C, which is ideal. However, it should not exceed 40 ° C, which will invariably lead to a loss of quality, and at -36 ° C the honey will freeze, decreasing in volume.
To preserve the liquid consistency of the product, the temperature should be maintained in the range from 16 to 20 ° C. If it drops below 14 ° C, then the honey crystallizes, and the process is irreversible. Long-term storage at a temperature of 11 - 19 ° C can contribute to fermentation.
Sugared honey is stored at room temperature with a decrease to 4 ° C. If it is necessary to preserve the product for a long period (a year or more), it is recommended to adhere to a temperature of no higher than 10 ° C with air humidity within 60%. A higher moisture content will result in acidification.
The most suitable storage utensil is a glass container with a tight-fitting plastic lid. At home, the best storage place will be a refrigerator, the temperature in which must be set at least 4 ° C. If honey is stored in the cellar, where the temperature is the same at any time of the year, then it is better to use metal lids in order to avoid exposure to high humidity in this place.
Subject to the necessary storage conditions, white honey will not deteriorate for several years (up to about five), but it is better to eat it within a year after pumping out to be sure that all its useful properties have been preserved.
Common varieties
There are many varieties of white honey. Basically, the product is classified by type of honey plants. Among the most famous varieties of white honey such as Bashkir white, acacia, nekurey, cypress, melilot, lime, raspberry, cotton. Each has a unique taste and has a lot of useful properties.
Bashkir
White Bashkir honey is collected by bees in the forests of Bashkiria, where there are many honey plants with medicinal properties. This product is nutritious, has a dense texture and low water content. It has a transparent structure with a slightly yellowish tint. Bashkir white honey is unique.
More than 350 honey plants growing in Bashkiria are counted. According to one version, the name of the republic is translated as "the head of a bee." In Bashkir white honey there is a very large number of useful healing properties of various kinds. The main property of this honey is its antimicrobial effect, due to the presence of an enzyme called inhibin.
Acacia honey
Honey is extracted from bees from white acacia flowers. It has a mild flavor and a pleasant aroma. It remains in liquid form until the beginning of spring. After pumping, it is very liquid, transparent and colorless, like water. Crystallized, acquires the consistency of a white mass with fine grain.
This honey is approved for use in diabetes, as it is absorbed without the help of insulin. In addition, one of the main properties of acacia honey is its hypoallergenicity, which is why it is often recommended for children. It helps with nervous disorders and eye diseases, normalizes blood pressure, hormonal balance in women, improves liver and kidney function.
Accurate White Honey
A very rare variety, even where honey plants grow, and these are Bashkiria, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Honey plant is pessoral psorale or Accuari. After pumping, the white neat honey is almost transparent, however, it crystallizes very quickly, becoming like an ice cream with a yellowish tinge. Almost odorless, only slightly you can catch in it a faint aroma of herbs. The taste is not sugary, tender and sour. After crystallization, it differs in a fine-grained structure, and it can easily be typed into a spoon.
Accurate honey can be consumed by diabetics and people who monitor weight, as it has few calories. Helps with vitamin deficiency, is nutritious, soothes nerves. Often used for cosmetic purposes. Loses useful properties at temperatures above 40 ° C. Known for anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects.
Cyprus white honey
Honey plant is fireweed or ivan tea. After pumping, the honey is very light, and during crystallization - cream or white with a consistency of sour cream. It smells of willow-tea flowers very delicately and subtly.
The usefulness of white Cyprus honey has long been proven. Its use is indicated in the treatment of diseases of the stomach. In addition, boiled honey helps with intestinal infections and diseases of the duodenum, colds, tonsillitis, flu and bronchitis. Heals wounds and burns, soothes a headache, improves blood circulation and helps with insomnia.
Cypriot honey was nicknamed "masculine" for its ability to treat inflammation of the prostate and urogenital system. Its taste is not too saturated, so this variety is perfect for baking and tea.
The usefulness of honey is undeniable. It has all the healing properties of honey plants with which bees collected nectar. With some caution in use, taking into account contraindications, honey can be consumed by both adults and children, enjoying the great taste and aroma of the product.