Honey is one of the mysterious foods that have tickled the imagination of tech savvy people in this age. It is difficult for them to fathom how hordes of nondescript insects can produce such an amazing product. This wonder food is fascinating for more reasons than one, and scientists are trying to find out more uses of honey than those known so far.



Honey's life-enhancing properties and its position of a wonder food is not by any chance our discovery. We are not the first to know its benefits. There were Romans who paid their taxes through pure honey rather than gold. This did not happen in the entire 1,000-year regime of Roman empire but is still a fact.

The history of humans and honey predates even the mighty Roman Empire. Paintings have been found in caves dating back over 9,000 years that have honey depicted in them. This is not really surprising since honey was probably the only means of sweetening food up until the time of refined sugar and molasses.

There are roughly 300 different types of honey available to consumers today. Honey is available in a wide assortment of colors and flavors. The color and taste of honey is determined by the flowers that the bees collected the nectar from used in making the honey.

The chemical composition of honey is nothing but that of a naturally refined sugar. But there is a slight difference. It has 38 percent fructose, 31 percent glucose, 1 percent sucrose, and 9 percent other sugars. It also has essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, water and small amounts of amino acids. These nutrients namely, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids make honey particularly interesting for the scientists trying to find its medicinal benefits.

What's absolutely fascinating about honey is that it does not rot. People have found honey with mummies, which was still perfectly safe to eat. Honey does not spoil because it has bioactive agents that keep germs and bacteria away. No wonder, honey has been used as a topical treatment for burns and other wounds. It prevents the injury from becoming infected. However, honey should be stored in a cool dark place to retain its bacteria-repelling properties because if it is exposed to light and heat the bioactive agents will begin to disintegrate.

Honey is available in different varieties but the kind that we are most familiar with is liquid honey. This is the type we use on pancakes and in tea and it is removed from the comb using a centrifuge, straining, or just simple gravity. A person may get it "filtered" so that all of the impurities and air bubbles have been removed or they may have it "strained" where most of the impurities have been removed but some of the smaller particles and air bubbles remain.

Honey is undoubtedly one of the sweetest substances on the earth and a perfect treat for taste buds. It is the only naturally refined sugar. It has loyally served the humanity from time unknown. It has properties to repel bacteria that made it safe to eat even after it laid buried beside the mummies for centuries. It indeed is a marvelous food. The scientists are busy discovering new medicinal uses of honey. Who knows what miracles lay hidden in it that can further benefit the humanity!!