Honey is known to all. Its beneficial medicinal properties have been used by man since ancient times. There are many types of honey. Among others is the so-called white honey, the usefulness of which is priceless.
Description
White honey is an ordinary natural white honey, which is obtained from the fact that nectar is collected from honey plants of a certain type. At the same time, honey plants can have flowers of any color.
White honey (photo below) does not acquire its color immediately. Freshly pumped, it is light yellow, sometimes with a greenish tinge, and may be transparent. It turns white when it is candied.
Honey is white, which doesn't mean it has to be crystal white. Yellowish gray and other shades are usually present. 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 have a conditionally white color and are different in composition, smell, shades, taste and properties. Moreover, the characteristics of each are determinednectar of those honey plants from which it is collected by bees.
Loot Features
White honey belongs to monofloral species. This means that most nectar was collected from one type of plant.
This is rare in nature. To get a similar product, you need to find agricultural crops (fields of sainfoin, sweet clover, rapeseed, cotton), wild-growing similar plants in one place and in sufficient quantities.
However, this is doubly difficult, since the necessary honey plants do not bloom in the right quantity every year.
Chemical composition
White honey, if it is natural, will not differ from other bee products in its characteristics and composition. Differences may depend on the area of collection and the plants pollinated, but the average composition is as follows:
- Water - up to 18%;
- Carbohydrates (most of all fructose and glucose, less m altose, 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 found in white honey in a fairly significant amount. Scientists have announced the figures of about 400 items. This list is constantly changing, which is influenced by many factors, but the unchanged composition of honey is:
- Minerals - potassium, iodine and their compounds. A little less space in the composition is occupied by copper, manganese, calcium, selenium, phosphorus, cob alt, aluminum, etc.
- Enzymes, proteins, dextrins, amino acids,antioxidants.
- Vitamins - ascorbic and folic acids, B vitamins, some carotene, vitamin E, K, PP.
In addition, white honey contains phytoncides, phytohormones, essential oils, organic and inorganic acids, which depends on the plants from which the nectar was collected by the bees.
Properties
If a flower has some medicinal properties, then honey will contain the same substances that are used for medicinal purposes. In addition, the product will acquire certain taste qualities. The properties common to all varieties of white honey are:
- antibiotic;
- antiseptic;
- antipyretic;
- tonic;
- sedative;
- diuretic;
- choleretic;
- laxatives.
The listed properties allow you to use the product to strengthen immunity and rejuvenate. Improve metabolism, speed up metabolism.
Whipped to a creamy consistency, white honey is successfully used in cosmetology to restore skin tone, lymphatic drainage, improve complexion, relieve various inflammations, nourish, heal microcracks and other damage. In addition, honey is used to cleanse the skin of impurities and remove dead skin cells.
White honey has been used for centuries for seasonal colds, tonsillitis, tonsillitis, laryngitis, bronchitis. Its use helped with influenza, pneumonia and even pulmonary tuberculosis. For the prevention of these diseases are usedunique anti-inflammatory, bactericidal and analgesic properties of white honey.
If the product is used in conjunction with drugs, it will enhance their effect on the body, and also help mitigate the course of the disease.
Contraindications
Along with the beneficial properties of white honey, there are also contraindications. The reason is that the product contains a large amount 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 an endocrinologist, as it contains a large amount of carbohydrates. Those on a low carb diet will need to adjust their diet when using this product.
With extreme caution, white honey should be used by pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 3 years old. Phytohormones and alkaloids in pollen can have an unpredictable effect on a child's body. Doctors advise to completely exclude white honey from the diet for this group of people, so as not to provoke negative reactions and complications.
Candied process
Sanding 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 honey is approximately 35 - 50% of the total.amount of sugars.
Glucose crystallizes faster than other sugars. For example, fructose is similar to it in chemical composition, but differs in the structure of the molecule and is very difficult to crystallize. Therefore, if there is a lot of fructose in honey, then it will not be candied for a long time.
The speed of the crystallization process directly depends on the ratio of glucose and fructose in its composition. Heather honey, rich in glucose, crystallizes almost immediately after pumping, while acacia honey remains liquid for many months at room temperature due to, you guessed it, a large amount of fructose. The storage conditions of the product 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 stratifies, acquires an unpleasant smell and taste, and loses all its usefulness.
The room where honey is kept should be protected from precipitation, strong chemical odors, direct sunlight and pests. Do not store honey next to onions and flour, paints and varnishes and combustible, polymer products and toxic substances.
Storage temperature can be between 4°C and 10°C, this is ideal. However, it should not exceed 40 °C, which will invariably lead to a loss of quality, and at -36 °C honey will freeze, decreasing in volume.
To keep the liquid consistency of the product, the temperature must be maintained between 16 and 20 °C. If it falls below 14 ° C, then honey crystallizes, and the process is irreversible. Long-term storage at a temperature of 11 - 19 ° C can contribute to fermentation.
Candied honey is stored at room temperature with a decrease to 4 °C. If it is necessary to store the product for a long period (a year or more), then it is recommended to keep the temperature not higher than 10 ° C with air humidity within 60%. Higher humidity will cause souring.
The most suitable container for storage is a glass container with a tight-fitting plastic lid. At home, the best storage place would be a refrigerator, the temperature in which must be set at least 4 ° C. If the honey is stored in a 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.
Under proper storage conditions, white honey will not spoil for several years (up to about five), but it is better to eat it within a year after pumping to be sure that all its beneficial properties are preserved.
Common varieties
There are many varieties of white honey. Basically, the product is classified according to the type of honey plants. Among the most famous varieties of white honey are Bashkir white, acacia, akuraevy, fireweed, sweet clover, linden, raspberry, cottonseed. 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 denseconsistency and low water content. It has a transparent structure with a slightly yellowish tint. Bashkir white honey is unique.
There are more than 350 honey plants growing in Bashkiria. According to one version, the name of the republic is translated as "the head of a bee." Bashkir white honey has a very large number of useful medicinal properties of various directions. The main property of this honey is its antimicrobial action due to the presence of an enzyme called inhibin.
Acacia honey
Honey is extracted by bees from white acacia flowers. It has a mild taste and pleasant aroma. It remains in liquid form until the beginning of spring. After pumping, it is very liquid, transparent and colorless, like water. Having crystallized, it acquires the consistency of a white mass with fine grain.
This honey is approved for diabetes as it is absorbed without the help of insulin. In addition, one of the main properties of white acacia honey is its hypoallergenicity, which is why it is so often recommended to 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 the honey plant grows, and these are Bashkiria, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The honey plant is psoralea drupe or akkuray. After pumping, white akura honey is almost transparent, but it crystallizes very quickly, becoming likeon ice cream with a yellowish tint. It has almost no smell, only slightly you can catch a faint aroma of herbs in it. The taste is not sugary, delicate and sour. After crystallization, it has a fine-grained structure, and it can be easily scooped into a spoon.
Accurate honey can be consumed by diabetics and weight watchers as it is low in calories. It helps with beriberi, it is nutritious, calms the nerves. Often used for cosmetic purposes. Loses useful properties at temperatures above 40 ° C. Known for its anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects.
Cyprian white honey
Honey plant is fireweed or Ivan-tea. After pumping, the honey is very light, and when crystallized, it is creamy or white with the consistency of sour cream. It smells of Ivan-tea flowers very gently and subtly.
The usefulness of fireweed white honey has long been proven. Its use is indicated in the treatment of diseases of the stomach. In addition, fireweed honey helps with intestinal infections and diseases of the duodenum, colds, tonsillitis, flu and bronchitis. Heals wounds and burns, soothes headaches, improves blood circulation and helps with insomnia.
Kiprey honey was nicknamed "male" for its ability to treat inflammation of the prostate gland and the genitourinary system. Its taste is not too rich, so this variety is perfect for baking and tea.
The usefulness of honey is indisputable. It has all the medicinal properties of honey plants, from which nectar was collected by bees. Ata certain caution in use, with an eye to contraindications, both adults and children can use honey, enjoying the wonderful taste and aroma of the product.
