The 4 Honey indicators you need to know

1. Fructose and glucose and sucrose.

It is an important indicator reflecting the maturity of honey. Whether honeydew or nectar collected by bees, bees are not simply used directly, but there is a process of brewing, which can be turned into mature honey after repeated brewing.

By adding endogenous invertase, the bees convert the original sucrose and starch into a reducing sugar, glucose, and fructose, respectively, to achieve a reducing sugar of 65% to 80%, and a sucrose content of 5% the following. In addition to glucose and fructose, honey contains a variety of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.1 kilogram of honey contains 2,940 calories.

2. Hydroxymethylfurfural.

Hydroxymethylfurfural is one of the indicators reflecting the freshness of honey. It reflects the purity of honey and is an important indicator to distinguish whether honey is adulterated. After processing or mixing, the hydroxymethylfurfural content of honey should not exceed 40 mg/kg. However, if the mixture of honey and its honey is indicated in the country or region surrounding the tropical climate, the hydroxymethylfurfural content should not exceed 80 mg/kg.

The reasons for the excessive occurrence of hydroxymethylfurfural are: First, the quality of the honey source for producing honey products is inferior.

Second, Excessive moisture.

Third, the honey itself is acidic. If heated and stored for a long time, the fructose and glucose in the honey will dehydrogenate to form hydroxymethylfurfural.

Fourth, the higher the temperature and the longer the storage and processing, the more hydroxymethylfurfural produced.

3. Amylase activity.

Amylase is an enzyme in honey products. Amylase activity is an indicator for determining the content of enzymes in honey. It is a characteristic indicator of honey and an indicator of honey maturity.

There are three main reasons for the decrease of amylase activity:

First, individual enterprises do not have vacuum concentration equipment, and only use an iron pan to directly heat and concentrate, the heating temperature is difficult to control, and the amylase activity is likely to decrease during the concentration process.

Second, the storage conditions and storage time of the product will also affect it. Generally, the higher the temperature, the longer the time, the lower the amylase activity.

Third, it is caused by the use of starch syrup without amylase activity to make fake honey.

4. Moisture.

Generally, the water content of honey is 16% to 20%. If the water content is increased, the sugar content is relatively reduced, which causes the honey to be easily fermented and deteriorated, which seriously affects the storage and sale of honey.