Most of us often use Honey as a healthy alternative to refined sugar. Honey is fat-free, cholesterol-free, sodium-free and this liquid is rightly termed as nature’s sweet nectar.
The sweet, sticky thick liquid is no less than an elixir for us. But if you are planning to invest in honey in order to switch to a healthier lifestyle, you must first check its purity before buying.
To enjoy the benefits of honey, you must understand its purity. One of the biggest problems with honey which usually is a differentiating point is its quality. Adulteration nowadays has become a common practice; it can be a challenge to find pure honey. Honey can be often mixed with glucose solution, high fructose corn syrup, and many other ingredients that consumers are not aware of.
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Here are ways to identify pure honey:
– Water Test: In a glass of water, put a spoon of honey, if your honey is dissolving in water then it’s fake. Pure honey has a thick texture that will settle at the bottom of a cup or a glass.
–The Thumb test: Apply a small amount of honey on your thumb, check if it is spilling like any other liquid, if it does then your honey is not authentic. Honey is supposed to be thick and it doesn’t drip.
–Vinegar Test: Mix a few drops of honey into vinegar water, if the mixture starts to foam, then your honey is fake.
–The Heat Test: Honey remains unburned. To try the heat test, dip a matchstick in honey and light it. If it burns, then your honey is adulterated.
– The bread test:Spread honey on a slice of bread. Real honey will harden within around 60 seconds. Fake honey will never harden, making the bread moist instead due to added moisture.
– Egg yolk test: If you pour real honey into a container with the yolk of an egg, the yolk will look like it is cooked when you stir the mixture together. With fake honey, there will be no change to the yolk when this process is carried out, remaining the same.
– Methylated spirits: You can test whether honey is real or fake by combining it with methylated spirits. When mixing real honey with methylated spirits, the honey will still settle at the bottom of any container. Fake honey will not do this, instead of dissolving in the methylated spirit and making the solution appear milky.
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Bonus:
If you are trying to open a new jar of honey and you hear a little pop sound, that could be a sign that the honey is in fact adulterated, which usually happens when fermentation takes place inside the bottle.
Real honey has a mild and often floral scent. This smell can change with heating and cooling, however fake honey often has no smell at all, or can have a sour scent. Knowing the difference can take a little practice unless you have both real and fake honey to compare against in the test.
Culled from India.com/Albeena
