20000225

Honey contains

more than 182

constituents

ISLAMABAD: Honey, highly valued as a complete and one of the man's earliest foods contains 182 important constituents identified so far, experts said.

A large number of minerals including gold, silver chromium, silver, nickle, lead, tin, zinc, bismuth and amino acids such as cystine, histidine, arginine, aspartic acid and phenylalanine are part of this great gift on Almighty Allah. All kinds of honey contains yeast.

The exact composition of honey depends mainly on the plant sources it is derived from and also on the weather, soil and other factors. Two honeys produced from different flowers are not identical.

The honey is supersaturated and if kept in a cool place, the soluble sugars start to crystallize out, and the honey finally becomes granulated. If granulated honey is warmed, the crystal dissolve and it becomes liquid again. Granulated honey is thick while liquid honey is clear, experts added.

The most important group of constituents of honey, after the monosacharide (glucose and fructose) and sucrose, are the reducing disacharides (maltose, etc). As a result of enzyme activity, their amount seems to increase during storage, depending on storage conditions. One honey sample kept for 36 years, under optimum conditions was reported to contain 16 percent of maltose and related compounds.

Strong honey flavours tend to survive longest. It is important to store honey under suitable conditions. If honey is not kept sealed or is stored at high temperature, it deteriorates through fermentations, especially in contact with ferrous metals or tin coatings.

It is important to mention that granulation of honey does not alter its medicinal or food value at all, the experts said.ÑAPP