Types of honey
Honey is not merely a natural sweetener. It is mainly constituted of simple sugars, but also a multitude of other elements are present as well. To date 182 different substances have been traced and certified and the research continues. The most important thing to note, however, is not the coexistence of the substances but their proportion in their organic interconnection in a biological, natural foodstuff that has properties quite different to those that each ingredient has on its own.Honey is not merely a natural sweetener. It is mainly constituted of simple sugars, but also a multitude of other elements are present as well. To date 182 different substances have been traced and certified and the research continues. The most important thing to note, however, is not the coexistence of the substances but their proportion in their organic interconnection in a biological, natural foodstuff that has properties quite different to those that each ingredient has on its own.
The composition, the quality, the organoleptic elements and the form (liquid or crystals) of Greek honey differ from plant to plant, region to region and from year to year as they are influenced by the weather conditions and flora, which in our country are characterised by a wide diversity.
The honey produced in Greece can be separated into two major super categories:
- Floral honey (known as anthomelo), from the nectar of flowers (thyme, orange blossom, heather etc.) honey.
- Honeydew honey (often called dasomelo or forest honey), produced from secretions of an insect, then marchalina hellenica, that sucks the trees, typically conifers. Pine honey belongs to the same category as fir tree honey and other forest plants.
There are eight basic categories of pure unadulterated Greek honey that can been established by low according to their physiochemical characteristics:
- Pine Honeydew of high biological value, low in sugars.
- Fir Honeydew of a thick consistency, with no particular aroma but great taste.
- Chestnut blossom, honeydew and floral, with the strong bitter taste.
- Heather (floral) with a delicate aroma, thick, opaque and not as sweet as thyme.
- Thyme (floral), perhaps the most popular honey.
- Orange blossom (floral) and citrus, with a strong perfume.
- Cotton (floral), primarily left to the bees.
- Sunflower (floral)
For a honey to be labelled as originating from a particular plant or tree (thyme, pine, fir, etc.) the organoleptic-physiochemicals and microscopic features of the specific plant must predominate above the multitude of other plants that may be present.
