Honey is almost a must-have in every household. For women, drinking honey water helps with beauty and anti-aging, while for the elderly, it helps slow down the aging process. Honey water can also relieve fatigue. Therefore, many families have honey in stock. However, there is a common confusion: is crystallized honey spoiled? How can we distinguish real honey from fake ones? Today, I will solve this puzzle for you!
Is crystallized honey spoiled?
1. Crystallized honey is usually of higher quality. The crystallized substances in good quality honey are mostly natural fructose, not sucrose. However, when high-quality honey crystallizes, the crystallized substances are very fine and do not have a grainy texture when rubbed with hands. On the other hand, low-quality crystallized honey tends to be coarse and is difficult to dissolve even in 60-degree Celsius water.
2. Crystallized honey contains higher levels of glucose and fructose compared to other types of honey. Regular consumption of crystallized honey has many benefits for the body. It can meet the body's need for sugar absorption, provide abundant energy, promote physical recovery, and relieve fatigue.
3. Crystallization of honey is a physical phenomenon, similar to water crystallization. After crystallization, the nutritional content and efficacy of honey do not undergo significant changes. Consuming crystallized honey is beneficial for the body as it enables the absorption of abundant nutrients, delays aging, cleanses the intestines, detoxifies the body, and nourishes delicate skin. Crystallized honey also enhances the body's disease resistance and detoxifies the liver.
Why does honey crystallize?
The crystallization of honey is due to the characteristics of glucose. Honey contains various nutrients, with sugar accounting for about 80% of its total content. The saturated solution of glucose and fructose accounts for 85-95% of the total sugar content, while sucrose accounts for about 5%.
When honey with a higher glucose content is stored at lower temperatures (0-14 degrees Celsius) for a period of time, the glucose will gradually crystallize. Therefore, the crystallization of honey is actually caused by glucose.
The crystallization process depends on the ratio of glucose to fructose (which does not crystallize easily) in honey, specifically, the percentage of glucose to reducing sugar.
Generally, when the glucose to fructose ratio is 1:1, crystallization is slow. When the ratio is 1:2, crystallization rarely occurs. When the ratio is 1:0.9, meaning the glucose content is higher than the fructose content, and the temperature is suitable, crystallization will occur quickly.
For example, acacia honey with a glucose to fructose ratio of approximately 2:3 does not easily crystallize, while rapeseed honey with a ratio of about 18:17 crystallizes quickly.
How to distinguish real honey from fake ones?
Many sellers believe that good honey refers to pure and genuine honey, while poor-quality honey refers to adulterated or syrup-substituted fake honey. In simple terms, there are two formulas: Fake honey = poor-quality honey, Real honey = good honey.
I always oppose this classification: fake honey is not honey at all, so it cannot be considered poor-quality honey. Real honey can be divided into two types: naturally matured good honey and immature or contaminated honey with antibiotics or drugs, which can be considered as poor-quality honey.
Another way to classify honey is into high-grade honey (such as acacia honey and catalpa honey) and low-grade honey (such as rapeseed honey). This classification is different from the classification of good and poor-quality honey. For example, even within low-grade rapeseed honey, it can be further divided into good honey (naturally matured rapeseed honey) and poor-quality honey (immature rapeseed honey).
