What is honey actually made of?
- 75-80% sugar (glucose, fructose etc.)
- 15-18% water
- 3% enzymes, minerals, vitamins, hormones etc.
It is precisely this 3% that is so crucial and makes the difference to other sweeteners. Honey is therefore not only a complex and easily digestible energy boost, but also the perfect carrier to pass these beneficial substances on to our body.
In many cultures, honey was not only valued as a sweetener, but also as a divine food with valuable health and care effects due to its many possible uses.
ingredients of honey
So far, over 240 naturally occurring substances have been detected in honey:
- 24 different types of sugar
- 27 amino acids, 12 enzymes
- 10 vitamins
- 12 minerals
- over 160 different flavorings
The exact composition depends on which plants the bees collected the nectar or honeydew from. For example, rapeseed honey contains significantly more glucose (41.2%) than acacia honey (27.1%), but less fructose. Because honeys with a high glucose content solidify faster than honeys with a low glucose content, rapeseed honey hardens within a few weeks, while pure acacia honey can remain liquid for several years. Crystallization can be prevented by mechanical stirring, this is how the well-known cream honey is created, in which the sugar crystals are ground off and smaller.