Bee honey is the oldest product on Earth and is a real health elixir for the human body. However, this definition applies only to a natural product, which must be able to recognize. Otherwise, buying honey will be in vain or even to the detriment.
If in the encyclopedia of beekeeping, published in 1876, data on possible counterfeiting of honey were limited to sugar syrup and alum, then after so many years the methods of counterfeiting a valuable product became more sophisticated. To buy on the market among thousands of beautiful jars of honey one that will not only be sweet, but also useful, you need to be an expert in some way.
Determine by eye
Not every honey that reaches the store counter is natural. Experts unanimously say that you need to take only from the beekeeper on the recommendations of friends, or in the market, where you can closely examine, smell and taste. Observing the contents of even a transparent jar, the quality of honey cannot be determined, unless the counterfeit reveals a stratification into different colors. This happens with improper storage, or indicates the addition of sugar syrup. The only advantage of a store purchase is that it can be made at any time of the year. Honey on the market is a seasonal product.
A person looking for the best honey will be disappointed - there is no such thing in nature. Since honey is the nectar of plants processed by bees, then, as there are flowering varieties in the world, there can be as many varieties of honey. Linden is good for colds, meadow - for the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, acacia is recommended for diabetics and children, chestnut - for cardiovascular diseases. All of them are beneficial if natural. Therefore, you should look for natural honey on the market.
With a superficial choice, you can pay attention to color, consistency and smell. Although the latter method of checking is highly questionable, because natural honey may not have a pronounced aroma. It all depends on the habitat of the bees. The color of the most common types of honey can be assimilated. For example, buckwheat is not to be confused with anything. It is dark in color with a tart odor and a bitter taste. Linden - amber yellow is also quite aromatic. Clover is also amber in color, but has a pinkish tint. Meadow is much lighter than these species and its aroma can be in a wide range of herbs and flowers growing there. But raspberry smells like raspberries, but? oddly enough, its color is almost white.
A viscous consistency is a sure sign of the quality of honey. If you put a wooden stick or spoon into the contents, then the honey will drain from it with a continuous thin thread, forming at the end a tubercle, which will not immediately dissolve in the total mass of honey. Low-quality honey will fall off in separate drops or splatter.
How to check the quality of honey at home
You can, of course, take everything you need to carry out the experiment with you to the market. But experienced buyers advise, having checked the honey by eye, buy 2-3 samples of 100 grams each, so that in a calm atmosphere at home, and not in the bustle of the market, carefully check and return for a solid purchase.
One of the most common ways to test the quality of honey is to combine it with iodine. There are no components in natural honey that could react to iodine by changing color. It is best not to drip iodine directly into honey, but to dilute the product in warm water beforehand. If 3-4 drops of iodine are added to honey water, it does not change color - natural honey.
Otherwise, the water will turn blue. So there is starch or flour in there, which is added for volume and viscosity. You can drop vinegar essence into the same container, its hissing will herald an additive such as chalk crumb, which is added for the same purpose.
The oldest test method is with a chemical pencil. To do this, he either draws a line on his hand, and then a drop of honey is rubbed, or a sharply sharpened pencil is stuck into the honey. High-quality honey will not leave a pencil mark, and diluted with water and sugar syrup will leave a blue mark. The presence of water in honey can be checked by dipping a piece of bread into it. After a while, it will increase in volume, which should not be.
You can just come back from the market and drink some tea with a spoonful of honey. Low-quality honey will certainly leave sediment at the bottom of the cup. You can dip a raw egg into honey. Naturalness confirms its ability not to drown in the contents. If starch is added to the honey, the hot milk will curdle when combined with it. There are many more ways to expose unscrupulous honey sellers. And it is not a sin to do this, since honey is not a cheap product and is often taken for health benefits.
