Review Assignment

The Carbohydrate Composition of Honey And How

The Bees Processing of Honey

Group 5
Dini Muthiah Islami (1310412022)
Hadi Defri (1310412007)
Moudy Angela Valiant (1310412029)
 The Carbohydrate Composition of Honey And How
The Bees Processing of Honey

Honey is composed primarily of 80 – 85 % carbohydrate like glucose and

fructose, 15 – 17 % water, 0,1 – 0,4 % protein, and also contain numerous other
types of sugars, 0.2 % ash and minor quantities of amino acids, enzymes and
vitamins as well as other subatances like phenolic antioxidants. Sugars are also
called sweet carbohydrates. Fructose and glucose are monosaccharides. Sucrose
which is composed of 50 % fructose and 50 % glucose linked together, is a
disaccharide, it comprises a little over 1 % of the composition of honey. Honey
also contains other disaccharides which make up over 7 % of its composition.
Some of them in honey are maltose, sucrose, kojibiose, turanose, isomaltose, and
maltulose.
On average honey is 1 to 1.5 times sweeter (on dry weight basis) than
sugar. Liquid honey is approximately as sweet as sugar, yet its contains only 82,4
gram carbohydrates/100 g and provide only 304 Kcal/100 g. On dry weight of
honey sugar make up about 95 %.
Protein and amino acid that honey contain is proline, and the vitamin such
as vitamin B, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid and vitamin B6. And
other minerals such as acetic, butanoic, formic, citric, aromatic acid. Gluconic
acid is the main acid present and is formed when glucose breaks down by glucose
oxidase.
Oligosaccharides (about 3% to 4 % of honey), example of its found in
honey include erlose, theanderose, and panose. These sugars are formed when
nectar and honeydew are converted to honey.
Bees of the genus Apis and some of the Meliponinae colonies store
appreciable quantities of honey. Bees prepare honey mainly from the nectar of
flowers but other plant sap and honeydew are also used. As each bee sucks the
liquid up through its proboscis ant into the honey sac, a small amount of anzymes
are added and wateris evaporated. The enzymes convert sugar in the nectar into
different types of sugars-honeys always contain a wide range of sugars, varying
according to the nectar source. After liquid has been placed in the cell of
honeycomb, bees continue to process it. The temperature of the hive is usually
around 35oC and this temperature together with ventilation produced by fanning
bees, causes further evaporation of water from the honey. When the water content
is lessthan 20 % the bees seal the cell with wax capping, the honey is now
considered ripe and will not ferment.
 References

National honey board. Carbohydrates and the sweetness of honey.

(www.honey.com)

Practical action. Technology challenging poverty. Honey processing. The

Schumacher center for technology and development . Bourton hall,
Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Rugby, Warwlckshire CV 23 9 QZ. UK
(www.practicalaction.org )

http://www.chemistryislife.com/the-chemistry-of-honey