Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners known to man. Records of its use date back nearly 900 years. Many definitions and standards have been used to describe honey, although few, if any, are complete. One of the better definitions defines honey as a 'sweet, viscous fluid, elaborated by bees from the nectar of plants and stored in their combs as food.' This definition will suffice under most circumstances but even this description fails to include honeys made from honeydew or fruit and plant juices.
Composition. Honey is composed primarily of sugars and water. The average honey is 79.6% sugar and 17.2% water. The primary sugars are fructose (38.2%) and glicose (31.3%). These are 'simple', 6-carbon sugars that are readily absorbed by the body. Other sugars include maltose (7.3%), a 12-carbon sugar composed of 2 glucose molecules, and sucrose (1.3%), a 12-carbon sugar composed of a glucose and a fructose molecule.
Honey also contains acids (.57%), some protein (.26%), a small amount of minerals (.17%) and a number of other minor components including pigments, flavor and aroma substances, sugar alcohols, colloids and vitamins. This latter group of materials constitutes about 2.2% of the total composition.
As a food, honey is a tasty and easily digestible source of carbohydrates. It is a natural food and a good source of quick energy. However, it is not, as many people would like to believe, a good source of vitamins, minerals and proteins. For example, a number of vitamins are found in honey but none of significant concentration. The vitamins identified in various types of honey include vitamin C, vitamin B,(thiamine) and vitamins in the B2 complex such as riboflavin, nicotinic, acid, B6and pantothenic acid. Vitamin C is often the most abundant vitamin, but a person who wished to use honey as a vitamin C source would have to consume 5.5 to 6 pounds of honey a day to obtain the minimum daily requirements. This is also true for minerals. Numerous minerals are found in honey (i.e. calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc) but even with the more abundant minerals such as iron one would have to consume from 1 to 40 pounds of honey per day to obtain the minimum requirement.
Properties. Honey has several important qualities in addition to composition and taste. The low moisture content on honey is one of its most important characteristics as it influences keeping quality, rate of granulation and body. Honey is hygroscopic (absorbs moisture) and will remove moisture from the air if the relative humidity exceeds 60%. Care must be taken in the handling and storage of honey to be sure that this does not happen. However, hygroscopicity is one of the traits the makes honey desirable for baking; goods sweetened with honey will stay moist longer. The low moisture content of honey also forms an important part of the system which protects honey from attack by microorganisms. Honey's hyperosmotic nature (due to the high concentration of solids and low moisture content)prevents the growth of bacteria and yeasts as it draws water out of the organisms, killing them by dessication.
The high acidity of honey also plays an important role in the system which prevents bacterial growth. The pH of honeys may vary from approximately 3.2 to 4.5 (average pH= 3.9) making it inhospitable for attack by most bacteria.
Finally, honey has an antibacterial or inhibine system. Bees add an enzyme glucose oxidase to honey and this enzyme reacts with glucose to produce hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid, both of which have an antibacterial effect. This system is most active in dilute honey and probably helps preserve honey diluted for brood food use.