HONEY:
History:
Human sweetness has been described in Stone Age paintings since about 8000
years ago. Over the past few decade, natural honey has been subject to
laboratory and clinical research by various research groups in addition to the
important role of natural honey in traditional medicine and has found a place in
modern medicine.
Composition:
Honey is a natural product widely used for therapeutic purposes. Some 200
substances have been reported. Much of Honey contains fructose and glucose
but also a number of amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Sweetness
varies depending on the plants the bee feeds on.
Honey (Nutritional value per 100 g)
- Carbohydrates 82.4 g
- Fructose 38.5 g
- Glucose 31 g
- Sucrose 1 g
- Other sugars 11.7 g
- Dietary fibre 0.2 g
- Fat 0 g
- Protein 0.3 g
- Water 17.1 g
- Riboflavin (Vitamin B 2 ) 0.038 mg
- Niacin (Vitamin B 3 ) 0.121 mg
- Pantothenic acid (Vitamin. B 5 ) 0.068 mg
- Pyridoxine (Vitamin B 6 ) 0.024 mg
- Folate (Vitamin B 9 ) 0.002 mg
- Vitamin C 0.5 mg
- Calcium 6 mg
- Iron 0.42 mg
- Magnesium 2 mg
- Phosphorus 4 mg
- Potassium 52 mg
- Sodium 4 mg
- Zinc 0.22 mg
Uses:
a) Overcoming liver, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal problems.
b) Investigations have also shown that honey can be inflamed and stimulate
immune responses within a wound.
c) Honey was as effective as prednisolone treatment in an inflammatory model
of colitis.
