What does crystallization of honey mean? What does honey crystallize look like

Honey crystallization is a common problem encountered in the process of consuming honey. With the extension of time and the change of temperature, the honey will often change from liquid to crystalline, and the color will change from dark to light. This change in honey often leads some people to misunderstand that it is due to the fact that honey is adulterated with white sugar.

In fact, this is a natural variation of honey, not the result of adulterated sugar.

Honey is a saturated solution of glucose and fructose containing a variety of nutrients. As glucose has the property of being easy to crystallize. Therefore, the separated honey, left at a lower temperature, for a period of time, the glucose will gradually crystallize.

The speed of its crystallization is related to the core of the grape crystal, temperature, moisture and nectar source.

The glucose crystal nuclei in honey are very small and are found in the nectar and in the spleen of the old nest where the honey has been stored. Under certain conditions, the glucose in honey grows and crystallizes around these tiny crystal nuclei. The more crystallization nuclei there are in honey, the faster it crystallizes.

The crystallization speed of honey is also affected by temperature, and it is most likely to crystallize at 13-14 hours. If it is lower than this temperature, the honey crystallization will be sluggish due to the increase in the viscosity of the honey. Above this temperature, the solubility of the sugar is increased, which reduces the supersaturation of the solution and slows down the crystallization. Therefore, in the process of preserving honey, we must control the temperature to continue the process of honey crystallization.

The crystallization of honey is also related to the type and water content of honey. For example, milk vetch honey, acacia honey, and jujube nectar are not easy to crystallize, while rape honey, cotton honey, and sunflower are easy to crystallize. All crystallized honey generally has a low water content and should be stored for a long time and is not easy to deteriorate.

Immature honey with a lot of water content, due to the reduction of the supersaturation of the solution, the crystallization speed will also slow down or can not be fully crystallized, so that the crystallized glucose sinks to the bottom, and other thin honey floats in the upper layer, the nutritional composition of this semi-crystallized honey has not changed, but the water content of uncrystallized honey has increased accordingly, so this honey should not be stored for a long time and should be eaten in time.

In the sale of honey, there are many people who like to buy uncrystallized honey exclusively, believing that uncrystallized honey is pure honey, sweet and delicious. In fact, crystallized honey also has its own unique advantages and is used by people. For example, some foreign manufacturers grind crystallized honey into cheese, which can not only preserve the state of cheese for a long time, but also have a unique flavor when eaten; The honey crystals of domestic manufacturers are made by dehydrating, adding dextrin, stirring and drying, and the honey crystals made by this method are more convenient to carry and transport than other honeys.

To sum up, honey crystallization is a physical phenomenon of honey, its chemical composition, nutritional value has not changed, and will not affect the quality of honey, the crystallized crystal is glucose, not honey mixed with sugar, in fact, the honey really mixed with white sugar is not easy to crystallize, easy to crystallize honey is pure honey, crystallization does not affect the quality of honey.

It should be a trace amount of honey wax + most of the sucrose.

The crystals in pure natural honey are also honey [easy to crystallize in winter].

The crystallization of bees should be a mixture of sugar and carbon molecules.

Pure honey will crystallize in winter, you look at the honey in the supermarket, it will never crystallize... My honey has completely crystallized. Oh.

The natural physical variation of honey is not adulterated with sugar.

Honey crystallization is a natural phenomenon of honey. The crystallization of honey is essentially a phenomenon and process in which glucose is precipitated and separated from honey. From the point of view of molecular theory, the glucose molecule in honey is originally moving in an orderly manner, but when the glucose in honey exceeds its solubility and becomes a supersaturated solution, a part of the glucose molecule begins to move and arrange regularly in the honey to form a tiny crystal nucleus and become a crystallization center, and more glucose molecules are regularly arranged on all sides of it, gradually forming larger crystals and separating them from the honey, which is honey crystallization.

The crystals in honey are sugar and beeswax!

Most of them are more than sugar.

1. Honey crystallization is the formation of particles of glucose around the crystal nucleus, and a layer of fructose, sucrose or dextrin film is wrapped around the particles, which gradually coalesce and expand, so that the honey in the whole container partially or completely forms a loose solid state, that is, honey crystallization.

Honey contains a variety of nutrients, and the sugar accounts for about 80% of the total substance, of which fructose and glucose supersaturated solution accounts for 85-95% of the total sugar, and sucrose accounts for about 5%. Since glucose has the property of easy crystallization, the separated honey will gradually crystallize when left at a lower temperature (0-14 degrees) for a period of time, so the honey crystallization is actually caused by the glucose in the honey, which mainly depends on the ratio between glucose and fructose (not easy to crystallize) in the honey, that is, the percentage of glucose in the reducing sugar. In general, when glucose is equal to fructose content 1:

1. Slow crystallization; When the ratio is 1:2, crystallization generally does not occur; When the ratio is 1:, that is, when the glucose content is higher than the fructose content, the crystallization will appear quickly when the temperature is suitable.

The essence of honey crystallization is the crystallization of glucose, because glucose has the property of easy crystallization, and honey is a supersaturated solution of glucose, which is easily affected by its internal factors or external conditions and transitions to a crystallized state.

When honey is stored at 5 degrees to 14 degrees, it is easy to crystallize, especially at 13 degrees to 14 degrees, which is the most suitable crystallization temperature for honey. Under conditions below 5 degrees or above 27 degrees, crystallization is not easy to occur.

The tendency and speed of crystallization depends on the amount of crystallization nuclei in the honey. Moisture content. temperature and variety.

Some honey crystallizes quickly, such as rape honey. cotton, honey, etc.; Some honeys crystallize slowly, such as milk vetch honey. Acacia nectar, etc.

The crystallization of honey is a purely physical change, not a chemical change, and the honey has not deteriorated and can be consumed normally.

Saturated solution, its material form is extremely unstable, and it is easy to transition to a crystallized state due to the influence of internal factors and external conditions.

The so-called "crystallization" is the precipitation of excess glucose from the solution. Honey crystallization is related to the number of crystal nuclei, the concentration of honey, the storage temperature and the type of honey source. If there are many glucose crystal nuclei in honey, it is easy to crystallize; The higher the Baumé degree of honey, the lower the water content, and the more supersaturation, the easier it is to crystallize; Honey is stored at 5-14°C and crystallizes quickly, and crystallization can be delayed above 14-20°C.

Different varieties of honey differ in crystalline properties due to their different compositions. Some varieties are easy to crystallize, and some are not easy to crystallize, such as rape honey, longan honey, astragalus honey is easy to crystallize, acacia and jujube nectar are not easy to crystallize.

The crystallization of honey is a purely physical phenomenon, not a chemical change, so it has no effect on its nutritional composition and edible value, and crystallized honey is not easy to deteriorate. Easier to store and transport. However, because crystallized honey can mislead consumers for "molasses".

It can prevent honey crystallization by destroying the crystal nucleus by high temperature heating, but the bee nutrients have been destroyed and there is no active substance! Let's get to know honey, get to know the crystals, and then accept the crystals! In fact, crystalline honey should be a good honey with a higher concentration.

The appearance of honey crystals is not fixed, and there is no regularity, some honey crystals are similar to snowflakes, some are white sugar, look rough, some are hard, some are soft, and the color is white or golden yellow, etc. Most crystallized honey can be drunk normally, and there is no loss of nutrients in it.

In fact, honey crystallization is a natural phenomenon, and the internal structure of honey will not change at this time, and the nutrients will not be reduced.

However, it should be noted that there is no law in honey crystallization, so the shape and so on are also different, some crystals are similar to small snowflakes, some look rough like white sugar, some are hard, some are soft, and the crystal color is also different, if it is light-colored honey, the crystals are very white, and the golden honey, the crystallization and poor color are mostly golden yellow.

Most honey crystallizes and is not as good in color and form as liquid honey, so many people will feel that it is not bad after seeing the honey crystallization, or they have bought honey, if they don't like crystallized honey, they can actually heat it with water to restore it to a liquid state before drinking.

The crystallization on honey is related to the glucose crystal nucleus, temperature, moisture and nectar source it contains. The glucose crystal nucleus in honey is very small, and there are pollen grains that exist in honey, and under certain conditions, the glucose in honey grows and crystallizes around these small crystal nuclei. The more crystalline nuclei there are in honey, the faster it crystallizes.

The speed of honey crystallization is also affected by temperature, and it is easiest to crystallize at 13-14 hours. If the temperature is lower than this, the honey crystallization will be sluggish due to the increase in the viscosity of the honey; Above this temperature, the solubility of the sugar is increased, which reduces the supersaturation of the solution and slows down the crystallization.

In addition, honey that crystallizes completely, generally with a low water content and a large water content, will crystallize slowly or not fully due to the reduced supersaturation of the solution. Different types of honey have different crystallizations, such as milk vetch honey, black locust honey, jujube nectar, codonopsis honey and a few others are not easy to crystallize; Rape honey, wild dam honey, cotton honey, etc. are easy to crystallize.

This needs to be on a case-by-case basis.

Honey crystallization is affected by many factors, including the glucose content of honey, storage temperature, water content and nectar source. In general, honey with a higher glucose content is more likely to crystallize; Honey with low water content crystallizes more easily; Stored in 13 14 easy to crystallize.

Honey crystallization is a normal physical phenomenon, pure honey will have crystallization characteristics, because honey is rich in glucose, and glucose is easy to crystallize, under the right conditions honey will become solid crystalline honey. It's just that due to various factors, some honey is easy to crystallize, and some honey is not easy to crystallize.