Honey

Honey as a sweetener with its High Efficacious :

Honey is a natural fluid, which generally have a sweet taste of honey produced by bees from the nectar of flower plants (floral nectar) or other parts of plants (extra floral nectar) or excretion insect. In Indonesia, in general, consumption of honey is still very low when compared to countries such as Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Japan. The average honey consumption in Indonesia is 10 grams / person / year. The low level of consumption of honey is probably caused by the public perception that the honey is just as traditional medicine is expensive and the lack of thorough knowledge of honey.

Honey is generally taste sweet because it comes from the nectar of flowers or nectar is collected, modified, and tied with certain compounds by bees. Nectar is sucked by the bees from a wide variety of plants. This causes the difference in nutritional composition contained in honey. Besides influenced by the diversity of sources of nectar, honey nutritional composition is also influenced by the nature of the soil where plants grow nectar sources, weather, degree of cooking and way of extraction. 

Honey can be classified as a sweetener because the sweetness of a substance resembling sugar in general. Total calories per 100 grams of honey produced is 294 calories. This is indeed smaller than the sugar that produces 364 calories per gram. But this can be ignored if you see the content substance and the benefits of a natural honey. Honey has a privilege than any other sweetener. One of the benefits of honey compared to other sweeteners can be consumed immediately after being taken from their nest without going through the process first because sugars contained in honey are simple sugars, namely glucose and fructose with high enough levels. In contrast to the usual sugar cane we drink every day that must be processed before consumption. In addition, sugar honey can be more easily absorbed in the body and more quickly digested because it is a simple sugar, while sugar in general is a more complex sugar which still must be broken first by some in the digestive process before it can be absorbed by the body. The main sugar contents in honey are glucose and fructose that reached 85-95% of both total carbohydrate honey.

Honey is the only sweetener that can be stored longer and used naturally. As other food ingredients, honey also has a time limit eligibility for consumption as its function. However, honey is generally more durable than the other substance.Factor which affects to the sweeteners is the water content contained in honey. If the water content in honey a lot, then the honey will ferment faster experience, and should no longer be consumed because the honey has been damaged. So when we buy honey it's will be better if we visible water content in it, if we want to store the honey in a long time. This fermentation will easily occur if the yeast present in honey content get enough water to make fermentation. The less water content in honey, the smaller the chances of fermentation. In bottles, which have had a fermented honey is usually when the bottle cap is opened there will be eruptions of gas. The water content in honey is also affecting honey effectiveness  for treatment. Water content which means a little bit too free water molecules in it that makes microorganisms can not grow in honey because of the nature of osmosis. High sugar content of honey with very low water content will have a high concentration so that microorganisms will experience osmotic lysis due to the fluid in the micro-organisms will be absorbed into a dense sugar solution with honey, so it will die.

Since the first, honey is also known as a medicine than as a sweetener. Honey has a different chemical composition which makes it a very efficacious to cure various diseases. Besides containing glucose and fructose, the sugar also contains sucrose (1.9%), dextrin (1.5%), various minerals (0.2%), water (17%), vitamins, protein (2.6%), various organic acids, enzymes, and others.

Mineral content in honey is very diverse, but potassium is the main mineral content. Other minerals are sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus and sulfur. Because the amount of minerals in  honey is relatively little, honey is not the main mineral source for human dietary needs. However, the proportion and number of minerals in honey close to the number that is contained in human blood. Therefore, mineral honey is the ideal source for the human body.

In addition to having a sweet taste, honey is also found in sour taste. The level of acidity (pH) of honey about 3.4 to 6.1. PH value is low enough honey is caused by the content of several organic acids, namely gluconic acid, acetate, butyrate, citrate, format, curse, malate, piroglutamat, and succinic acid. So honey has the potential composition is alkaline and acidic, so it is suitable to maintain the acid-base balance in the body. Which is alkaline composition derived from the minerals, whereas acid composition derived from organic acids. Acid-base balance in the body need to be kept for a strong immune system.

Vitamins are contained in honey include thiamin, riboflavin, biotin, ascorbic acid, pyridoxine, niacin and pantothenic acid whose numbers depend on the type and quality of honey. For protein content in honey is relatively small, averaging about 2.6%. Amino acids found in proteins of honey are alanine, asparagine, argirin, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, phenylalanine, serine, theorin, valine, cysteine ​​and proline.

Honey contains various digestive enzymes. Various types of enzymes found in honey, such as diastase, invertase, catalase, peroxidase, inulase and lipase. Honey is a natural foods highest enzyme levels. Catalase enzymes act to solve peroxide, a ration of metabolic waste (free radicals) that accelerate the aging process. So honey is also known as youthful drug, because in general people who regularly drink it will have a longer life, has a high stamina in old age and are rarely attacked by various diseases.

Various antibiotics and antibacterial agents also support the role of honey in treatment. Honey is very good to keep baby teeth because it inhibits the growth of bacterial decay. It is also good for maintaining healthy teeth and mouths of adults.  Antibacterial honey can keep the health of the tooth enamel and dentin and can prevent infection and heal sore mouth if it is often used for rinsing. Contained antibacterial compounds such a type lysozyme has antibacterial power. This compound is more popular with the name "inhibine". Gram-negative bacteria are more sensitive to "inhibine" than gram-positive. Inhibine very sensitive to heat. At a temperature of 600 ˚ C activity in honey inhibine lost in just 15 minutes.

At least there are 4 factors that support or antibacterial honey as a prebiotic: 1) high levels of sugar honey could inhibit bacterial growth and development. In such conditions, the bacteria that live cells (protoplasm) will detach from the wall so that the cell can no longer indulge, 2) Honey is acidic with a pH around 3-4, in this condition bacteria can not survive, 3) honey containing organic compounds which is antibacterial, among others inhibine from group of flavonoids, glycosides and polyphenols. While antibacterial found in royal jelly is a 10-hidroxdecen-2-OIC-acid, 4) Honey radical compounds containing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) which is to kill bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms. That toxic compounds is damaging reactive functional groups of biomolecules in bacterial cells. However, because honey contains enzymes catalase, after poisoning bacteria quickly break down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.

Honey also contains folic acid very well be consumed by pregnant women. Folic acid is an essential nutrient for fetal growth. Lack of folic acid in early pregnancy can cause babies born at greater risk for congenital neural tube defects. Honey fed to infants who have been eating and drinking other than mother's milk stimulated the growth of red blood cell and brain growth. Folic acid can improve blood composition, improving the number of erythrocytes and hemoglobin content. So it can cure the anemia. In comparison, children who were not given honey hemoglobin content rose only 4% for 40 days. While that taking honey in addition to eating a normal, hemoglobin content increased by 23% at the same time. In addition to folic acid, honey also contain acetylcholine. This acetylcholine can accelerate blood circulation and reduce blood pressure that is too high.

People who have poor sleep habits are also advised to regularly consume honey because honey may produce more serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical compound that can can make the brain become more relaxed, calm and can reduce pain. If the lack of serotonin in the body it will be susceptible to stress. When stress occurs, the body will deplete reserves of glucose in blood sugar. Reserves glucose was obtained from protein and carbohydrates in the body that should be used to meet the energy needs of the body. Stress also stimulate the kidneys to remove many of the body's essential minerals such as magnesium, zinc and potassium. If the stress is sustained it will reduce appetite and nutritional needs are not met. So, need food supplement such as honey to overcome this. Honey will boost the serotonin levels in the body, enhances appetite, and support the body's nutritional needs.

In addition to the various functions  of honey that have been mentioned above, honey still have a variety of functions that support health. Honey can be used to cure the lung disease tuberculosis, influenza, in the heat, fever, colds, heart attack, measles for children, liver disorders, and other stomach disorders such as peptic ulcers. Natural honey is also known efficacious for treating burns, infections, keeping the skin moist body, making the skin look clean, fresh, bright and luminous.

As additional knowledge, the end of this paper was written some kind of honey that needs to be recognized. The types of honey are: 1) floral honey,  produced from flower nectar.If it's produced from a variety of flower it is called polyfloral honey. 2) Dew honey, it's produced from the liquid secretions of insects hemipterous who put sugar on plant parts. 3) Artificial Honey, all the honey produced from plants that processed without bees. Artificial honey is consumed by people who are allergic to honey bees, although the name of artificial honey, it has good nutritional content and healthy. Artificial honey is made by grinding the fruit, then filtering and concentrating the fruit juice with warm and then packing it.4) Royal jelly is the result of worker bees gland secretion that contains proteins, fats, sugar, mineral salts, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, vitamin H and vitamin E. Royal jelly contains gonadotropin hormone which can stimulate the reproductive organs of the queen bee and accelerate ripening eggs. It also contains an antibiotic substance that is germisidin which can prevent the growth of fungi and microorganisms. 5) Bee pollen, pollen which is derived from various types of flowers that is collected by bees in the hive and stored raw materials for making honey. With various techniques, the pollen can be harvested before the process into the honey bee.