Honeydew honey: what is it and how to distinguish it, benefits and harms to humans, properties

Bees are able to produce nectar not only from pollen, but also use honeydew, which is called honeydew, for this. Insects collect this substance with insufficient flowering of honey plants. As a result, it is possible to obtain a honeydew variety of honey. It has a unique taste, unusual shade and smell. The composition of the product includes many valuable components, each of which brings great benefits to the body.

Description and difference of honeydew honey

To understand what honeydew honey is, you should familiarize yourself with its origin. In the absence of a sufficient number of honey plants, bees collect honeydew - sweet secretions. They are plant and animal.

In the first case, we are talking about the secretions of insects that feed on plant sap, in the second - about honeydew, which is a sweet plant product. Such secretions often appear on coniferous trees. Also, these substances may be present on linden, oak, aspen or willow.

Depending on the source, honeydew honey is divided into the following varieties:

1. Animal. Ants protect aphids for good reason. It feeds on the juices of plants and secretes by-products with a high content of sugars. In the heat, when many honey plants stop flowering, bees collect sweet bloom from the leaves and use it to make honey. However, in its pure form, the honeydew product is rare. In most cases mixed charges are made. In this case, the honeydew connects with part of the pollen.
2. Vegetable. This product includes carbohydrate secretions from a number of trees. They are actively produced in hot weather. This helps the bees to wait out adverse conditions without stopping their work.

To distinguish honeydew honey from other varieties, it is important to focus on its key characteristics:

1. Color. The honeydew product looks different - it all depends on the source of the raw material. Honeydew, collected from deciduous trees, gives honey a rich brown hue. If the bees collected honeydew from coniferous plants, the nectar will have a light color with greenish notes. Animal honeydew makes the product dark, almost black. Mixing honeydew with pollen produces a light golden hue.
2. Fragrance. This type of honey is characterized by a light aroma. Some varieties of the product do not smell at all.
3. Taste. The product has a pleasant sweet taste with a slight bitterness.
4. Consistency and crystallization process. A distinctive feature of this honey is considered to be a thick and viscous consistency.When added to the composition of flower pollen, the texture becomes more liquid. Honeydew honey is characterized by very slow crystallization. Many types of product do not crystallize at all - they delaminate or form a soapy mass, which has an opaque consistency.

Composition and calorie content of the product

The energy value of 100 grams of the product is 316 kilocalories. At the same time, the substance does not contain proteins or pollen grains. It contains 80 grams of carbohydrates and 0.1 grams of fat.

The content of the remaining components depends on the variety of honeydew that the bees used to make honey. For example, nectar from pine needles contains 5-6 times less phosphorus than mass from ash honeydew. The same applies to the potassium content.

Honeydew honey includes many phytoncides, which are considered natural antibiotics. It also contains a large amount of mineral s alts - phosphorus, manganese, cob alt, iron. According to these parameters, the honeydew variety exceeds the flower variety, therefore it has a high value for people.

This variety of honey contains a large amount of polysaccharides. In addition, it contains sucrose, fructose, glucose and other sugars. The product also contains many free amino acids.

Useful properties

Honeydew honey has great benefits for humans:

1. High content of potassium favorably affects the state of the cardiovascular system. The substance strengthens blood vessels and normalizes blood circulation.
2. A large amount of B vitamins helps prevent insomnia and increased stress. Also, these substances improve the functioning of the nervous system.
3. The combination of proteins, enzymes and amino acids in animal honeydew helps to get rid of pathologies of the liver, digestive system, gallbladder and pancreas.
4. The antioxidant properties of the product ensure the removal of toxins and other harmful substances from the body.
5. The combination of valuable trace elements has a beneficial effect on intestinal motility.
6. High levels of phosphorus, calcium and potassium strengthen bones.
7. The product activates the body's defenses. It promotes recovery from traumatic injuries.
8. Adding honeydew honey to facial masks improves skin nutrition, reduces wrinkles and reduces puffiness.
9. The use of wraps with this type of bee nectar eliminates the appearance of cellulite, makes scars and stretch marks less noticeable.

For what diseases is used

Useful properties of honeydew honey allow it to be used for a variety of pathologies. The main indications for its use include the following:

• cough, bronchitis, pneumonia;
• tonsillitis and catarrhal pathologies;
• anemia;
• tuberculosis;
• high temperature;
• arthritis;
• failure and decreased immunity;
• disturbances in the work of the digestive organs;
• insomnia and depression;
• nervous excitement;
• dermatitis and skin pathology.

Use in cosmetology

Honeydew honey is often used in cosmetology. It has many beneficial effects:

• eliminates skin damage;
• relieves dryness and flaking of the dermis;
• smoothes wrinkles;
• strengthens hair.

In its pure form, the product can be applied to the skin to heal wounds, eliminate inflammation, and treat acne. It is also often included in various cosmetic products - decoctions, tinctures, masks.

How to distinguish from a fake

To determine the naturalness of honey, you need to pay attention to a number of criteria. The easiest way to do this is by color. The honeydew product is much darker than the common flower varieties. In addition, this type of nectar does not have a characteristic sweetness, but rather contains a slight bitterness in taste.

To distinguish the honeydew product from the flower, you can resort to various methods. To do this, it is recommended to mix the nectar with distilled water and ethyl alcohol with a concentration of 96%. This must be done in a ratio of 1:1:6. If the solution acquires a cloudy consistency, this indicates the presence of honeydew in it.

You can also use another method. First, nectar must be mixed in equal parts with distilled water. Then add 2 parts of lime water to it. The finished solution must be brought to a boil and carefully observed.If flakes and sediment appear on the surface when heated, then the nectar was made from honeydew.

Storage conditions

This type of honey does not keep well. This is due to its chemical composition and high degree of hygroscopicity. In order for the product to retain its properties for as long as possible, it is important to provide it with a suitable temperature regime and optimal humidity. For short-term storage, honey can be kept at a temperature of +15 degrees. If you need to preserve its properties for a long time, a temperature of +7 degrees is suitable. Humidity should be 60%.

Honeydew must be kept in a dark place. It must not be exposed to direct sunlight. It is permissible to store bee nectar in glass containers.

Contraindications and possible harm

This variety of honey has a minimum number of contraindications. It can be harmful in such cases:

• individual intolerance;
• exacerbation of any pathologies;
• uncontrolled drinking.

Doctors advise against giving honey to young children and people with allergies. With great care, the product should be used for diabetes and overweight. The same applies to pregnant and lactating women.

Honeydew honey is a very useful product that contains a large number of unique components. Due to this, bee nectar can be used to treat a variety of pathologies. It is also often used in cosmetology. In order for the product not to bring harm to he alth, you should definitely study contraindications before using it.

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