If there is one thing that is commonly found in all Indian households, it most definitely is honey. Since ancient times, honey has always been considered to be a superfood because of its never ending list of benefits.
Honey can be a wonderful alternative to your refined sugar which is just a source of empty calories. This ingredient not only sweetens your life but it is also abundant in minerals, nutrients and enzymes. If you want to enjoy the benefits of using honey every day, you must consider its purity before buying.
Honey at HoneyAllDay is raw, pure, real and unadulterated. You can take any tests mentioned below to check the purity of our honey.
1. THE TRANSPARENCY TEST
This is a really simple and reliable way to test the purity of your honey. Place any sheet of paper with some written text or graphics on it behind your honey jar (you can remove the label from the jar for your convenience). Look through the other side of the jar and check if you can see the graphics on the paper through the jar. If you can see or read the content of the paper, it is an indication of adulteration in your honey. Unlike adulterated honey, real honey is translucent and that is why you will not be able to see the graphics placed behind a jar of real honey.
The adulterated or impure honey is heated and then the honey undergoes pasteurization and ultrafiltration that diminishes its nutritional value and makes the honey more transparent for an extended shelf life whereas when it comes to real, pure honey, it has a translucent texture because its natural composition is not altered with additional filtration.
2. THE THUMB TEST
Pour a small amount of honey over your thumb and observe it. If the honey starts dripping or running down, chances are the honey is impure. Pure honey has a thick texture and sticks to a surface.
This is because the natural texture of the honey itself is quite thick. So naturally, it should take quite a while to run down any surface. But when the honey is liquefied with fillers, it tends to lose its thickness which may be the cause of honey dripping right down your thumb.
3. THE WATER TEST
Take a spoonful of honey and mix it in a glass full of water. If your honey dissolves immediately, chances are the honey is impure. Due to the thick texture of pure honey, it usually settles at the bottom and forms lumps before eventually getting diluted.
Again here the texture of the pure honey makes it difficult to immediately dissolve in water. If your honey dilutes easily, it is a clear indication of adulteration in your honey as its texture has been altered.
4. THE VINEGAR TEST
This is another simple test similar to the previous one. To try this test, mix a teaspoon of honey with some water and a few drops of vinegar. If the solution starts to foam, it is an indication of the impurity in your honey. Real, pure honey will not adopt a foamy texture.
The heating process adopted by commercial honey manufacturers affects the natural composition of honey which makes it impure and results in a foamy structure as in this case.
5. THE PAPER/CLOTH TEST
Take a blotting paper or a white cloth and pour a few drops of honey on it. If the blotting paper or the cloth absorbs the honey and leaves a stain, the honey may not be pure. Real honey does not stain. It will remain on the top of the cloth or the blotting paper and not drip through it.
The real honey does not get absorbed due to its thick texture which it gets naturally. However adulterated honey undergoes a heat process which alters its texture making it more liquefied which is why it passes through the paper and cloth, leaving behind a stain.
Honey is a superfood, the benefits can be enjoyed only when your honey is real, pure and unadulterated.
Apart from these methods, there are a few things you can keep in mind while buying your honey. A thorough research of your product will go a long way.
Try looking for honey that uses a cold-processing technique as this technique does not kill the enzymes and helps keep its nutritional value in check. Be sure to check the ingredients and also look out for the NMR test. These are some indicators of pure, real and unadulterated honey that will help you choose the right one.
Which methods did you try to test the purity of your honey at home? Let us know in the comments below.
