How is honey processed??

Question

hi pals i wanted to know what is done with honey after it is collected from the bee hive...? also i wanted to know how can adultration of honey be done...

Answer 1

How is honey processed for human consumption?:-

Honey is often treated with a pasteurizing process to minimize crystallization once packaged. This process may involve exposure to high temperatures that can destroy some of the valuable natural enzymes in honey.

Raw and unprocessed honey is generally preferred over honey which has been heavily processed. When honey crystallizes, it is generally a simple case of gently warming the product until it is re-liquefied. Temperatures of 110 degrees or less should be adequate to re-liquefy the product and at this temperature the live enzymes should remain unaffected.

This also has significance concerning the end use of honey, and there are conflicting opinions in this regard. Clearly, certain live enzymes are destroyed when the product is heated excessively, and therefore its nutritive and therapeutic properties must be diminished. So using honey in hot drinks, as so many people do, may not be yielding the full range of benefits from the product.

However, recent studies into how heating certain vegetable products may effect their nutrient yield is uncovering some interesting results that seem to go against popular opinion. In one study, carrots were analyzed for their beta-carotene, or Carotenoid content. Carotenoids are phytonutrients, the nutritional elements that occur naturally in fruits and vegetables, giving them their distinctive yellow, orange or red colors. They are commonly believed to be powerful antioxidants that rid the body of harmful free-radicals. For many years nutritionists have told us that eating raw vegetables is the only way to benefit significantly from their nutritional properties, and that heating vegetables destroys their nutrient content. However, in a recent series of tests, carrots were heated through various stages to simulate a typical cooking process. At different temperatures the beta-carotene levels of the carrots was analyzed, and it was found that the levels actually increased through the heating process. At a certain stage the levels began to diminish, but never to a level below the raw, uncooked food.

Similar research has been conducted into the effect on honey. It was found that the antioxidant properties of honey may increase through heating: "When honey is cooked, it appears to acquire additional, functionally important antioxidants", according to related studies at Clemson University in South Carolina.

So, to heat or not to heat? The simple answer is to use your honey straight from the jar by teaspoon, and use it in hot drinks also. That way you have the best of both worlds, unheated with its live enzymes intact, and its increased antioxidant levels when heated.

Answer 2

The processing of honey may be very simple e.g. in the case of a hobby operation, or extremely complex involving a great deal of technology tailored to each individual honey type. Most processing however is concerned with liquefying and straining (or filtering) honey. Both of these operations usually require some application of heat to the honey. The heat has the dual effect of removing crystallization in natural honey, and to reduce the viscosity. Both of these things are required to provide a product that can be cleaned and further processed for creamed honey or just filled into jars as liquid honey

Heating Honey

Heating is one of the most discussed topics relating to honey "quality". Most of this stems from days long before modern processing systems when considerable change occurred in honey due to application of heat needed to extract and process the honey. e.g. the separation of beeswax from honey was often done by melting the beeswax in the honey which then floated on top as a liquid. This required raising the honey above 63.5°C (the melting point of beeswax) with little or no accurate control, for considerable periods of time. Today, modern pumps, extraction plants, filtering and straining systems, flash heat exchangers and coolers controlled by highly accurate electronic sensors coupled to computerised systems etc. make this excessive heating a thing of the past. But marketing claims that were once extremely valid, are still emphasized when their relative importance to honey quality is now significantly reduced.

When confronted by statements relating to heat, it is important to remember two things:

Heat is relative. e.g. 30 degrees Celsius is "cool" to someone from tropical climates while the same temperature in a temperate climate is "hot".

Nearly all changes in honey are a function of temperature AND time. i.e. long times at low temperatures can have a similar outcome to higher temperatures for a short time (see HMF example - 30°C for 6 months is more damaging for HMF than 70°C for 2 hours).

To have any meaning, statements about heating should therefore contain a temperature that the honey is heated to, the length of time held at that temperature, and whether it is cooled quickly or allowed to cool naturally (which may take hours or even days depending on the size and thermal properties of the container(s)). Quality claims such as "unheated" or "raw" honey that have no qualifying time or temperature, may be quite misleading. E.g. poor storage of bulk honeys, or a long shelf time of slow moving retail lines in a warm climate, will produce changes many times greater than the brief periods of accurately controlled heating during processing.

Effects of Heating

"Honey" is a generic name for an extremely varied product produced by honey bees. This huge variability is in all aspects of its makeup. It is therefore virtually impossible to record or predict the effect of heat on every possible component of every honey. However there are a number of things that do regularly happen to most honeys when they are heated. In order of importance these are:

Change in flavours

Viscosity changes

Sugar crystals melt

Decrease in enzyme activity

Change in sugar compositions

Decrease in Yeast activity

Increases in HMF

This order may change depending on the final usage of the product.