Have you ever heard of honey going bad?

Have you ever heard of honey going bad?

(Not talking of your ordinary honey)

While evacuating Egypt’s famous pyramids, archaeologists have found 3000 years old pots of honey. This is the account of the world’s oldest sample of honey and surprisingly it is perfectly edible.

If stored properly, honey could last for a very long time. Now, let me brief you about the composition of honey and why it is so resistant to decomposition.

Considering the solid mass in honey, it consists of 95-99% sugars. Glucose and Fructose (which are the simple ones and can be readily absorbed by our body) represent 85-95% of total sugars.

Credit: Courtesy of Howland Blackston

Honey is a highly concentrated sugar solution and that makes it hygroscopic in nature i.e. it absorbs water.

So, what happens with most of the microorganisms that might end up in honey? The water from their bodies is sucked out. Microorganisms having insufficient amount of water to perform their live processes are bound to die.

Honey has a pH of 3-4.5 which again creates a hostile environment for microorganisms.

To add to this, honeybees release an enzyme- glucose oxidase into honey which converts sugar into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide.

All of these properties show that honey can have an eternal (A bit of a stretch?) shelf life if stored properly.

Just don’t let you jar of honey stay open for too long to absorb moisture and be attacked by microorganisms.

Some facts about honey:
(1) Honey has been used as a preservative owning to its bactericidal properties

(2) It can be used in skincare. Honey will absorb moisture from the surroundings and when applied to the skin, it will keep your skin hydrated.

(3) It has been applied to wounds for faster and cleaner healing.

(4) Honey is better than sugar in many aspects and hence, it can be used as a substitute. The key is to not over consume any of the two.



Sources:

[1] http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/honey-in-the-pyramids.aspx
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2269714/

[3] http://scienceline.org/2007/04/ask-westly-crystallizedhoney/

[4] http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-properties.html

[5] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/

[6] http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65204

[7] http://www.snopes.com/horrors/cannibal/honey.asp

[8] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/healthy-sugar-honey_n_5445024.html