Why does pure raw honey crystallize ?
Myths And Facts About Honey
By Madhudhara Bloger
The entire process of the formation of honey in the honeycomb is 100% natural. The source of flora from where the honeybees collect the nectar gives the honey its unique smell, colour, taste, and quality. If the source of nectar for the honeybees is the lychee flower, then the honey will have a yellow shade like the lychee and it will taste and smell like lychee. No two honey thus will have the same characteristics. Being a natural product, the weather prevailing at the time of nectar collection and honey formation will also give the honey its uniqueness. The different types of natural ingredients present in the raw pure honey, the source from which the honey bees have collected nectar for the honey, the climatic conditions under which the nectar was collected; all influence the crystallization and kind of crystallization that the pure honey undergoes after harvesting it.
The main cause of honey crystallization
Pure raw honey contains mainly three ingredients that give it sweetness. These are Fructose, Glucose, and Sucrose. Generally, fructose (40 to 42%) is present in the highest quantity followed by glucose (nearly 32 to 34 %) and sucrose (about 1 to 2%).The different types of natural sweeteners vary in proportion depending upon where the honeybees have collected the nectar from. That is, the source of the flora is one of the deciding factors along with the climatic conditions. The difference in composition of honey with respect to the three types of natural sweeteners present in raw pure honey influences the crystallization in the following ways; when the temperature falls to 10 degrees Celsius or below, When the honey has a very high fructose content, it will become like jelly. Example: When the source of nectar is the Deshi baval flower, the honey will become like jelly. There might also be crystallization at the bottom with free-flowing liquid honey on top of it. Lychee Flowers honey has more glucose content and it crystallizes completely. The taste also varies when composition changes. It tastes extra sweet when fructose is higher in content as these natural ingredients sweeter than sucrose or glucose. Glucose is the main reason behind the crystallization of pure honey. The honey that is formed with the nectar from Jamun (blueberry) flowers, generally will stay in free-flowing liquid form. Thus, depending upon the changing conditions, honey undergoes a change in three different ways
Mainly raw Honey crystallizes in three different ways
- Semi-solid sediment at the bottom with liquid flowing honey on the top.
- Complete crystallization of honey uniformly.
- Free-flowing honey.
Madhudhara Farms is a leading harvester of raw, natural, and pure honey in India. Some of the types of pure natural raw honey like Raw jamun (Blackberry) flowers honey, Raw kashmiri kikar flowers honey, Raw eucalyptus flowers honey, Raw fennel (Variyali) flowers honey, Raw lychee flowers honey, Raw shisham (Rosewood) flowers honey, Raw desi Baval honey, and Raw karanja flowers honey are unique honey types that are harvested. Madhudhara honey types are based on the single-source flower nectar that the honey bee collects. During the process of honey farming, no eggs of honey bees are destroyed and all the honey bees are kept safe. Harvesting of pure honey is done in the bright moonlight at night. This way, the honey bees are not disturbed at all. Modern methods of beekeeping are employed in honey farming.
Remember, crystallized honey is a pure form of honey. Being the purest form of honey, the color and taste might change slightly with passing time.
