Evaluation of Changes in some Physical and Chemical Properties of Syrian Honey, Affecting Honey Crystallization due to the Different Geographical Sites

Author: Ebraheem Al-Jouri*, Nouraldin Daher-Hjaij*, Raghdan Alkattea**, Kassem alsayed Mahmoud*** and Al-Muthanna Saffan****

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Abstract

This paper aimed to evaluate some physical and chemical properties of Syrian honey that affect honey crystallization. 44 Samples of honey were collected after harvesting from different Syrian regions. All were produced by the local honey bee colonies Apis mellifera syriaca L. The results proved that all samples were in the range of the Syrian and European Codex Standards. The lowest moisture content was found in the eastern region samples where it reached around 12.43%. pH value ranged between 3.74 and 5.74 in all samples. Sucrose did not exceed 3.85%. The average of glucose to fructose reached 0.96% in the eastern region honey, whereas it reached 1.21% and 1.1% in the southern and middle regions respectively. This refers that honey of the eastern region has the highest trend to crystallization. As a result, Syrian honey in general is susceptible to crystallization with differences according to geographical sites and nectar sources.

Keywords

Syrian honey, physical and chemical properties, crystallization

Conclusion

The results of this paper demonstrate that the geographical site has a significant effect on the chemical and physical properties of the Syrian honey, especially for the ratio of fructose and water content. This is due to the differences of the environmental conditions and the dominated nectar plants in each region, with the emphasis that all physical and chemical properties are conforming to the Syrian and European Standards and the Codex, which can reflect the high quality of the Syrian honey. Crystallization is a natural property for all types of the Syrian honey and at all geographical sites, in particular for the honey of the eastern region, which is the most tending to crystallize. Crystallization of the honey coming from the southern and central region is often delayed due to the higher fructose/glucose ratio.

References

Syrian honey is characterized by its wide varieties due to the wide botanical variation in Syria. The nectar sources for honeybee foragers differ according to the geographical sites. This includes forest and orchard trees such as Eucalyptus-Citrus trees- stone fruit trees, crops like cotton - sunflower - anise- black seeds Nigella sativa, besides a number of medical plants such as Thyme-caper Capparis spinose-Artemisia, and wild thorn plants like camelthorn Alhagi maurorum and the yellow star-thistle Centaurea solstitialis. What can be considered as a good factor for the quality of Syrian honey is its very low content of pesticides residues due to the high prices of pesticides that most of the farmers cannot afford applying them on their crops (Fert, 2004). The honey production in Syria reached 2900 tons (AOAD, 2015)). Natural honey is one of the most sought products due to its unique nutritional and medical properties resulting from the different substances composing the honey (Buba

How to cite this article

Ebraheem Al-Jouri, Nouraldin Daher-Hjaij, Raghdan Alkattea, Kassem alsayed Mahmoud and Al-Muthanna Saffan. (2017). Evaluation of Changes in some Physical and Chemical Properties of Syrian Honey, Affecting Honey Crystallization due to the Different Geogr