Honey /hni/ is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers.

The variety produced by honey

bees (the genus Apis) is the one most commonly referred to, as it is the type of honey collected by
most beekeepers and consumed by humans. Honeys produced by other bees(bumblebees, stingless bees) and
insects (honey wasps) have different properties, and they are not discussed in this article.
Honey bees transform nectar into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation. They store it as a
primary food source in wax honeycombsinside the beehive.
Honey gets its sweetness from the monosaccharides fructose and glucose, and has approximately the same
relative sweetness as granulated sugar.[1][2] It has attractive chemical properties for baking and a distinctive flavor
that leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners. [1] Most microorganisms do not grow in
honey because of its low water activity of 0.6.[3] However, honey sometimes contains dormantendospores of the
bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can be dangerous to infants, as the endospores can transform into toxinproducing bacteria in infants' immature intestinal tracts, leading to illness and even death. [4]
Honey has a long history in human consumption, and is used in various foods and beverages as a sweetener
and flavoring. It also has a role in religion and symbolism. Flavors of honey vary based on the nectar source, and
various types and grades of honey are available. It is also used in various medicinal traditions to treat ailments.
[citation needed]
The study of pollens and spores in raw honey (melissopalynology) can determine floral sources of
[5]
honey. Bees carry an electrostatic charge whereby they attract other particles in addition to pollen, which
become incorporated into their honey; the honey can be analysed by the techniques of melissopalynology in
area environmental studies of radioactive particles, dust and particulate pollution.[6][7]

As a food and in cooking[edit]

The main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, as a spread on bread, and as an addition to various beverages,
such as tea, and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages. According to the The National Honey Board (a
USDA-overseen organization), "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other
substance...this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners".[39] Honey barbecue and honey
mustard are common and popular sauce flavors.
Honey is the main ingredient in the alcoholic beverage mead, which is also known as "honey wine" or "honey
beer". Historically, the ferment for mead was honey's naturally occurring yeast. Honey is also used as
an adjunct in some beers.
Honey wine, or mead, is typically (modern era) made with a honey and water mixture with a pack of yeast added
for fermentation. Primary fermentation usually takes 40 days, after which themust needs to be racked into a
secondary fermentation vessel and left to sit about 3540 more days. If done properly, fermentation will be
finished by this point (though if a sparkling mead is desired, fermentation can be restarted after bottling by the
addition of a small amount of sugar), but most meads require aging for 69 months or more in order to be
palatable.

Nutrition[edit]
Honey is a mixture of sugars and other compounds. With respect to carbohydrates, honey is
mainly fructose (about 38.5%) and glucose (about 31.0%),[1] making it similar to the synthetically
produced inverted sugar syrup, which is approximately 48% fructose, 47% glucose, and 5% sucrose. Honey's

remaining carbohydrates include maltose, sucrose, and other complex carbohydrates.[1] As with all nutritive
sweeteners, honey is mostly sugars and contains only trace amounts of vitamins or minerals.[40][41] Honey also
contains tiny amounts of several compounds thought to function asantioxidants,
including chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase, and pinocembrin.[42][43][vague] The specific composition of any
batch of honey depends on the flowers available to the bees that produced the honey.[40]
Typical honey analysis:[44]

Fructose: 38.2%

Glucose: 31.3%

Maltose: 7.1%

Sucrose: 1.3%

Water: 17.2%

Higher sugars: 1.5%

Ash: 0.2%

Other/undetermined: 3.2%

Its glycemic index ranges from 31 to 78, depending on the variety.[45]

Honey has a density of about 1.36 kilograms per litre (36% denser than water). [46]
Isotope ratio mass spectrometry can be used to detect addition of corn syrup and cane sugar by the
carbon isotopic signature. Addition of sugars originating from corn or sugar cane (C4 plants, unlike the plants
used by bees, and also sugar beet, which are predominantly C3 plants) skews the isotopic ratio of sugars
present in honey,[47] but does not influence the isotopic ratio of proteins; in an unadulterated honey, the carbon
isotopic ratios of sugars and proteins should match. As low as 7% level of addition can be detected. [48]

Classification[edit]
Honey is classified by its floral source, and there are also divisions according to the packaging and processing
used. There are also regional honeys. Honey is also graded on its color and optical density by USDA standards,
graded on a scale called the Pfund scale, which ranges from 0 for "water white" honey to more than 114 for "dark
amber" honey.[49]

Floral source[edit]
Generally, honey is classified by the floral source of the nectar from which it was made. Honeys can be from
specific types of flower nectars or can be blended after collection. The pollen in honey is traceable to floral

source and therefore region of origin. The rheological & mellisopalynological properties of honey can be used to
identify the major plant nectar source used in its production. [50]

Blended[edit]
Most commercially available honey is blended, meaning it is a mixture of two or more honeys differing in floral
source, color, flavor, density or geographic origin.[51]

Polyfloral[edit]
Polyfloral honey, also known as wildflower honey,[52] is derived from the nectar of many types of flowers. [53]
The taste may vary from year to year, and the aroma and the flavor can be more or less intense, depending on
which bloomings are prevalent.[54]

Monofloral[edit]
Monofloral honey is made primarily from the nectar of one type of flower. Different monofloral honeys have a
distinctive flavor and color because of differences between their principal nectar sources.[55] To produce
monofloral honey, beekeepers keep beehives in an area where the bees have access to only one type of flower.
In practice, because of the difficulties in containing bees, a small proportion of any honey will be from additional
nectar from other flower types.[citation needed] Typical examples of North American monofloral honeys are clover,
orange blossom, blueberry, sage, tupelo, buckwheat, fireweed, mesquite and sourwood. Some typical European
examples include thyme, thistle, heather, acacia, dandelion, sunflower, honeysuckle, and varieties
from limeand chestnut trees.[citation needed] In North Africa (e.g. Egypt) examples include clover, cotton,
and citrus (mainly orange blossoms).[citation needed]

Honeydew honey[edit]
Instead of taking nectar, bees can take honeydew, the sweet secretions of aphids or other plant sap-sucking
insects. Honeydew honey is very dark brown in color, with a rich fragrance of stewed fruit or fig jam, and is not
as sweet as nectar honeys.[55] Germany's Black Forest is a well known source of honeydew-based honeys, as
well as some regions in Bulgaria, Tara (mountain) inSerbia and Northern California in the United States. In
Greece, pine honey (a type of honeydew honey) constitutes 6065% of the annual honey production.
[56]
Honeydew honey is popular in some areas, but in other areas beekeepers have difficulty selling the stronger
flavored product.
The production of honeydew honey has some complications and dangers. The honey has a much larger
proportion of indigestibles than light floral honeys, thus causing dysentery to the bees, resulting in the death of
colonies in areas with cold winters. Good beekeeping management requires the removal of honeydew prior to
winter in colder areas. Bees collecting this resource also have to be fed protein supplements, as honeydew lacks
the protein-rich pollen accompaniment gathered from flowers.

Osmotic effect[edit]
Honey has an osmotic effect.[86] Honey is primarily a saturated mixture of two monosaccharides, with a low water
activity; most of the water molecules are associated with the sugars and few remain available for

microorganisms, so it is a poor environment for their growth. If water is mixed with honey, it loses its low water
activity, and therefore no longer possesses this antimicrobial property.[citation needed]

Hydrogen peroxide[edit]
Hydrogen peroxide is formed in a slow-release manner by the enzyme glucose oxidase present in honey. It
becomes active only when honey is diluted, requires oxygen to be available for the reaction (thus it may not work
under wound dressings, in wound cavities or in the gut), is active only when the acidity of honey is neutralized by
body fluids, can be destroyed by the protein-digesting enzymes present in wound fluids, and is destroyed when
honey is exposed to heat and light.[84] Honey chelates and deactivates free iron, which would otherwise catalyze
the formation of oxygen free radicals from hydrogen peroxide, leading to inflammation. Also, the antioxidant
constituents in honey help clean up oxygen free radicals present. [87]
C6H12O6 + H2O + O2 C6H12O7 + H2O2 (glucose oxidase reaction)
When honey is used topically (as, for example, a wound dressing), hydrogen peroxide is produced by
dilution of the honey with body fluids. As a result, hydrogen peroxide is released slowly and acts as an
antibacterial.[88]

Use for diabetic ulcers[edit]

Topical honey has been used successfully in a comprehensive treatment of diabetic ulcers when the patient
cannot use topical antibiotics.[89]

Acidity[edit]
The pH of honey is commonly between 3.2 and 4.5.[83] This relatively acidic pH level prevents the growth of
many bacteria.

Methylglyoxal[edit]
The nonperoxide antibiotic activity is due to methylglyoxal (MGO) and bee defensin-1.[90] Most honeys
contain very low levels of MGO, but manuka honey contains very high levels. The presence of the synergist
in manuka honey more than doubles MGO antibacterial activity.[84]

Nutraceutical effects[edit]
Antioxidants in honey have even been associated with reducing the damage done to the colon in colitis in a
study involving administering honey enemas to rats.[91] Such claims are consistent with its use in many
traditions of folk medicine.[92]

Use for sore throats and coughs[edit]

Honey has also been used for centuries as a treatment for sore throats and coughs and, according to recent
research, may be an effective soothing agent for coughs. [93]

Other medical applications[edit]

Unfiltered, pasteurized honey is widely believed to alleviate allergies, though neither commercially filtered
nor raw honey was shown to be more effective than placebo in a controlled study of 36 participants
with ocular allergies.[94] Nearly 1 in 3 of the volunteers dropped out of the study because they couldn't
tolerate eating one tablespoon of honey every day due to the overly sweet taste. [95] The official conclusion:
"This study does not confirm the widely held belief that honey relieves the symptoms of allergic
rhinoconjunctivitis." A more recent study has shown pollen collected by bees to exert an antiallergenic effect,
mediated by an inhibition of IgE immunoglobulin binding to mast cells. This inhibited mast cell degranulation

and thus reduced allergic reaction.[96] The risk of experiencing anaphylaxis as an immune system reaction
may outweigh any potential allergy relief.[95]
A review in the Cochrane Library suggests honey could reduce the time it takes for a mild burn to heal up
to four days sooner in some cases. The review included 19 studies with 2,554 participants. Although the
honey treatment healed mild burns faster than traditional dressings did, the author recommends viewing the
findings with caution, since a single research centre performed all of the burn studies. [97]

Health hazards[edit]
Botulism[edit]
Because of the natural presence of botulinum endospores in honey,[98] children under one year of age should
not be given honey. The more-developed digestive system of older children and adults generally destroys
the spores. Infants, however, can contract botulism from honey.[99] Medical grade honey can be treated with
gamma radiation to reduce the risk of botulinum spores being present. [100] Gamma radiation evidently does
not affect honey's antibacterial activity, whether or not the particular honey's antibacterial activity is
dependent upon peroxide generation.[101]
Infantile botulism shows geographical variation. In the UK, only six cases have been reported between 1976
and 2006,[102] yet the U.S. has much higher rates: 1.9 per 100,000 live births, 47.2% of which are in
California.[103] While the risk honey poses to infant health is small, it is recommended not to take the risk. [104]

Vindecarea plagilor - mierea cruda este un remediu care dateaza din Egiptul si Grecia antice. Medicina moderna
redescopera proprietatile de vindecare ale mierii. Cercetatorii considera ca mierea are capacitatea de a ucide microbii.
Aciditatea din miere si caracteristica sa de a deshidrata bacteriile ar putea fi motivul pentru care mierea vindeca ranile.
- Sursa de energie - mierea de albine pura este o sursa de carbohidrati, atat fructoza cat si glucoza pe care organismul le
transforma in energie. Glucoza ofera instant energie in timp ce fructoza este mai lent absorbita si furnizeaza energie in mod
constant.
Sportivii si copiii activi ar trebui sa consume miere intrucat aceasta le va oferi energia de care acestia au nevoie. Mierea pura
de albine este o sursa naturala de minerale cum ar fi calciu, fier si potasiu dar si vitamine din complexul B.
- Prevenirea alergiilor sezoniere - mirea pura de albine poate fi benefica pentru persoanele care sufera de unele tipuri de
alergii. Pentru ca albinele aduna polenul de la plantele native si il transforma in miere, consumul de miere produsa la nivel
local poate preveni aparitia alergiilor sezoniere.
Alte beneficii ale mierii includ:
- este antifungica si hranitoare
- ajuta la asimilarea calciului in organism
- are efect antibacterian atat in diverse probleme interne cat si externe ale organismului
- poate stimula sistemul imunitar
Mierea poate fi folosita in diverse scopuri
- ca pansament pentru accelerarea vindecarii cauzata de leziuni tisulare
- amestecul in cantitati egale de suc de ghimbir si miere este un bun expectorant
- mirea ajuta la tratarea racelilor, tusei, durerilor in gat si secretilor nazale
- pentru tratarea astmului bronsic, se amesteca o jumatate de gram de praf de piper negru cu un amestec de miere si suc de
ghimbir. Se va bea de cateva ori pe zi.
- mierea poate calma si incuraja vindecarea ranilor din gura sau vagin
- un bol de ovaz sau terci de ovaz cu o lingura de miere poate calma nervii

- este ideala pentru calmarea emotiilor si a stresului pre-examen

- are efect hidratant si poate fi folosita pentru sanatate pielii ca masca naturala revitalizanta
- consumul unor cantitati mici de miere, va va face imuni la alergiile sezoniere la polen
- pentru imbunatatirea vederii se amesteca miere cu suc de morcovi. Se va consuma cu o ora inainte de masa, dimineata.
- pentru purificarea sangelui, se va amesteca un pahar de apa calda cu una sau doua lingurite de miere si o lingurita de suc
de lamaie. Preparatul se va bea zilnic, inainte de a merge la toaleta. Va reduce cantitatea de grasimi din organism si va
curata intestinele
- mierea naturala determina o crestere mai mica a valorilor de zahar din sange decat zaharurile rafinate, mai ales in cazul
persoanelor cu diabet zaharat de tip II. Putina miere neprelucrata poate fi adaugata in bauturile bolnavilor de diabet zaharat
de tip II, atunci cand apare pofta de alimente sau bauturi dulci.

A new honey has been produced that has had amazing results treating wounds and infections.
The bio-engineered product Surgihoney was tested on babies, new mothers, cancer patients and the elderly for over a year
in Hampshire hospitals.
Wounds and ulcers, including those infected with the superbug MRSA, healed within days, while the number of women who
suffered infections after giving birth by caesarean section has halved.
It has also healed the wounds of soldiers returning from Afghanistan, and been used to treat acne and to protect the skin of
cancer patients fitted with a catheter for chemotherapy.
Dr Matthew Dryden, consultant microbiologist at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: It will revolutionise
wound care around the world.
Honey has been used for its healing powers for thousands of years, although doctors favour penicillin and antibiotics.
However, Surgihoney, which is stored in 10g sachets, can kill bacteria, parasites and fungal infections while also encouraging
wounds to heal.