If preserved in a closed container, it can even crystallize, become more often or granulated, but it is not ruined. What explains the resistance of honey?
Most of the desserts, jams and other delights preserved in vessels have a very limited service life. Just a bad spoon to start creating mold or protecting an entire colony of bacteria.
But some foods have a peculiar conservation power and remain themselves for consumption for years. Honey is one of these special substances.
If preserved in a closed container, it can even crystallize, become more often or granulated, but it is not ruined.
This incredible resistance to time is due to honey chemistry and the way it is produced.
When we say a spoiled food, in reality we are saying that something else has come before we can eat, something microscopic.
The bacteria, mushrooms and molds are present in small quantities in many foods and most of the methods used by humans to keep them are precisely to prevent these microorganisms from consuming.
Many of these microorganisms prefer humid environments, with high temperatures (but not so much), a neutral pH and a large amount of oxygen to be used in their metabolism.
Therefore, dehydrate meat or fruit deprives water microorganisms. Cooking high temperature food and keeping them inside the refrigerator kills most of these beings and also slows down the growth of those who have remained. Already sealing the food in a pot limits the quantity of oxygen to which these microorganisms have access.
But also the foods that suffer a real marathon of the conservation process usually have a limited useful life.
The truth is that we are always leading a battle against these microorganisms.
Be that smell of vinegar that tells us that the Lactobacillus He took over the orange juice, or the black mold stains on the sides of the peanut paste pot, the signs of their presence are generally very clear – and inevitable.
Miele, however, is a separate case. And there is a reason for this.
The peculiarities of honey
Honey is produced by bees from nectar of flowers. It begins like a warm, watery and sugary liquid, a type of fluid that looks like an invitation to bacteria.
But on the road to the hive, bees concentrate nectar, removing part of the water and using enzymes to increase the acid content in the liquid, which discourages the growth of some forms of microorganisms and breaks sugars in simpler forms.
Subsequently, the bees store ape nectar.
So they do something extraordinary: honey are ventilated with wings. This ventilation slowly evaporates the remaining water, like a fan that evaporates the sweat of the skin.
Therefore, that substance that was about 70% or 80% of the water is drying and drying.
Miele completely mature usually has between 15% and 18% of water. In fact, the percentage of water molecules for water is so high that it would be physically impossible to dissolve a lot of sugar in the small water without a process and what the bees use.
There is a lot of sugar there, and of course microorganisms would like to take advantage of it. But with such small water – and acidity that offers further discouragement – they cannot survive.
Furthermore, when you sell a honey pot, the availability of oxygen is also limited, thus creating another barrier for the growth of these beings.
This state is known by food scientists as “low water activity” and, in fact, reducing water activity is a very common technique for preserving transformed foods.
It is possible to maintain certain humid foods without ruining as long as the water molecules are connected to the interactions of salt or sugar, for example.
This does not mean that honey resists all challenges to stay fresh. Once a honey jar is opened, the surface begins to be exposed frequently in the air and the licking spoon brings bacteria and humidity that were not present when the pot was prohibited.
If this happens, take control of the situation by adding water and a special microorganism and you will have a mead alcoholic drink made by the fermentation of a type of honey, a type of “damage” with which few would worry.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
