Description
Bees use nectar to make honey; they collect
nectar from a variety of plants, which means a variety
of types of honey. Honey is a naturally produced functional food, foods that have been proven to have
a positive effect on health, which
has advantageous properties.
These properties include antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, wound and sunburn healing, antioxidant, antidiabetic and
antimicrobial activities.
Honey is characterized by many
different traits, color being the most important physical trait. From the color
of honey one can determine the geographical origin as well as what variety of
plants the honey originates from. Honey color is used to determine floral
origin and is important aspect in commercial activities. Many factors have been
found to affect the color of honey including
minerals, phenolic compounds
and antioxidant activity. Darker
honey has been found to have higher
antioxidant capacity, and
is often used
in natural health
regiments. Studies have
proven how important antioxidants are in fighting disease, so an accurate
way to quantify the
antioxidants in honey is important. Including honey
with high levels
of antioxidants in a diet has shown
to reduced the risk of heart
disease and cancer. The antioxidants in honey help to break down free radicals, unstable
compounds that attack healthy
cells affecting the way they function, in the body.
Application - Honey Color - Portable Photometer
A research scientist was comparing the physio chemical and antioxidant properties with honey and needed
an accurate way to report honey
color. For his research four different types
of honey were compared. The types
of honey that
were of interest are gelam, longan,
rubber tree and
sourwood honeys. The name of these
honey varieties are derived from the plant which the nectar was collected from. Often these varieties of honey
are introduced to food whether
directly or indirectly, as well as used as traditional medicine
in the local area. Manuka honey
from New Zealand
was used as the standard
in the study because of known benefits and medicinal properties. Manuka honey was
also chosen as the standard because it has
been widely studied for its antioxidant capacity. Honey with high antioxidant activity
would promote bee keeping
and increase the value
of honey in the local
market. He looked
at many different characteristics of the honey
pH, EC/TDS and honey
color. He was already using
Hanna products for pH and EC/TDS.
While these parameters were measured for the purpose
of this study to determine
a relationship between
physical parameters and honey
antioxidants, EC and moisture content are standard measurements for commercial honey production for regulatory purposes. Honey color is obtained by comparing to an amber
colored standard and the results are expressed in distance within the sample.
Previously he was
getting these results
by visually comparing the honey sample
to a set of standards and found this
to be subjective. He contacted Hanna about the HI96785, a portable
photometer designed specifically for measuing
the color of honey.
The HI96785 gives results in mm, according to the Pfund
scale. The Pfund
scale, used to grade honey
color, ranges from 0 to
140mm. As the color
increases, so does the Pfund
value. The researcher appreciated that the HI96785 also came with a table that allowed him to determine the color classification based on the Pfund value.
The color scale includes the classifications water white,
extra white, white, extra light amber,
light amber, amber and dark.
He also liked
that the HI96785 was
so easy to use and gave a direct measurement, which took away the subjectivity of comparing the samples to a
set of standards. The HI96785 comes with a glycerol standard but additional standards and cuvettes can be ordered
for additional analysis. The C219/C220 kit includes 82 cuvettes, 30 mL of glycerol and
two 5 mL syringes.
The glycerol standard is used to calibrate the instrument before analysis. The honey sample is then placed
into a disposable cuvette, inserted into the instrument,
and covered with the
light shield for analysis.
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