Honey processing

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Maybe this will be helpful:

 

How is honey processed for human consumption?:-

 

Honey is often treated

with a pasteurizing process to minimize crystallization

once packaged. This process may involve exposure

to high temperatures that can destroy some of the

valuable natural enzymes in honey.

 

Raw and unprocessed

honey is generally preferred over honey which has

been heavily processed. When honey crystallizes,

it is generally a simple case of gently warming the

product until it is re-liquefied. Temperatures of

110 degrees or less should be adequate to re-liquefy

the product and at this temperature the live enzymes

should remain unaffected.

 

This also has significance concerning the end use of honey, and there are conflicting opinions in this regard. Clearly, certain live enzymes are destroyed when the product is heated excessively, and therefore its nutritive and therapeutic properties must be diminished. So using honey in

hot drinks, as so many people do, may not be yielding

the full range of benefits from the product.

 

However, recent

studies into how heating certain vegetable products

may effect their nutrient yield is uncovering some

interesting results that seem to go against popular

opinion. In one study, carrots were analyzed for

their beta-carotene, or Carotenoid content. Carotenoids are phytonutrients, the nutritional elements that occur naturally in fruits and vegetables, giving them their distinctive yellow, orange or red colors. They are commonly believed to be powerful antioxidants that

rid the body of harmful free-radicals. For many years nutritionists have told us that eating raw vegetables

is the only way to benefit significantly from their nutritional properties, and that heating vegetables destroys their nutrient content. However, in a recent series of tests, carrots were heated through various stages to simulate a typical cooking process. At different temperatures the beta-carotene levels of

the carrots was analyzed, and it was found that the

levels actually increased through the heating process.

At a certain stage the levels began to diminish,

but never to a level below the raw, uncooked food.

 

Similar research

has been conducted into the effect on honey. It was

found that the antioxidant properties of honey may

increase through heating: "When honey is cooked,

it appears to acquire additional, functionally important antioxidants", according to related studies at Clemson University in South Carolina.

 

So, to heat or not

to heat? The simple answer is to use your honey straight

from the jar by teaspoon, and use it in hot drinks

also. That way you have the best of both worlds,

unheated with its live enzymes intact, and its increased

antioxidant levels when heated.