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It is also known that honey is a food and medicine, and God Almighty mentioned it in the textual revelation in Surah An-Nahl, “It is a cure for people” verse and in the noble prophetic hadiths, including the famous hadith, God’s truthfulness and lying about your brother’s stomach There is no day that passes when people talk about honey, which has become confused for some, like other commodities such as oud, as confusion and suspicion are caused by the large supply and variation in prices, which led to a loss of confidence in a lot of honey, so I would like to clarify some facts about this important topic. The quality of honey is not determined by marketing or geographical factors or plant sources such as price, source (location), or a type of honey from a specific plant source. Honey may be from a well-known source and good plant sources at a high price and adulterated either by adding sugar or industrial feeding with sugar and vice versa. It is true that it may be cheap and good, as it is not a fixed rule for both sides. Some people talk about the quality of honey, for example, and set standards in financial matters, such as saying honey is always expensive and adulterated, and this is not a scientific rule or it is determined that good honey does not exceed the price of a kilo for forty riyals, that is, if It was forty riyals that it became a counterfeiter, so is this talk reasonable, inferred, or based on a scientific or marketing basis at all. Good honey is determined by many things, including (Method of beekeeping, geographical location, plant source, sorting method, packing method, transportation method, storage method, storage time, quality of packaging) and the previous factors, if the conditions required for good honey production are met, then God willing, whether its price is high or low, 1000 One riyal, or 5 riyals per kilo, or 500 riyals or others, the price is determined by the cost, and there may be some kind of exaggeration sometimes. The cost of honey in Saudi Arabia, according to studies conducted, especially al-Berry, is 200-250 riyals per kilo, while this figure decreases in the case of farms, as well in Yemen, close to that amount, while there are types of honey imported from many countries, the cost is very low and it may be high-quality honey and this From the grace of God to worship that he provided them with all the resources at different prices And this is a blessing from God that deserves thanks to God Almighty. In ancient times, people in the Kingdom and the Arabian Peninsula in general only knew Hadrami honey because it is the only one that is marketed with merchants who come to work in addition to the presence of honey sources in the southern region (Abha, Jazan, Taif, Al Baha …) And people are accustomed to the taste of Hadrami honey, which is usually Sidr honey or Talah, it has a specific flavor and distinctive taste, and they buy it at a high price because it is the only one and the price is not justified for the quality. Sometimes it may be abnormal or natural, but it is affected by thermal treatments such as heating to sort honey from wax and this is usually It is old among some tribes in Hadramout, and the heating as it is known increases the oxidation of fructose sugar in the presence of acids, thus increasing the hydroxy-methyl furfural (HMF) compound, “which some writers in newspapers consider as volatile oils in honey, which are oxidation products.” Some of them break down and some decrease their value according to the degree of heating, and since we discussed heating, we will review some important matters for the consumer, as I found during the conduct of the master’s research in a part of the study in particular. On the effect of heating on the properties of honey, I treated different types of honey at different temperatures of 70 ° C and 100 ° C at different times of 10 and 20 minutes and the microwave temperature at different times, and we found that after exposure to 100 ° C honey all its enzymes were destroyed and the value increased HMF to degrees exceeded the limits of standard specifications in addition to the influence of many other components in honey, such as the healing properties. As for heating honey at 70 ° C, the enzymes were affected to a lesser degree. Some people may advise the consumer to boil honey over a fire to benefit from its foam for therapeutic aspects, or to take honey and a mixture with herbal compounds I say at this point (Boiling honey destroys honey) and it is not used therapeutically, but a food substance and it may be harmful as a result of the high HMF substance affecting the liver in the long run. Also, some shop owners display honey on the storefront facing the sun, whether at sunrise or in the afternoon, and this Effect occurs on honey. Honey changes to black color as a result of caramelization and oxidation It increases its HMF content and increases the chances of fermentation for honey by encouraging the growth of yeasts and fungi, as the enzymes are affected by the low value and oxidation of some nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Therefore, we advise against buying honey displayed on the storefront exposed to the sun, as I advise shop owners not to display honey On these facades, they are kept at storage temperatures not exceeding 25 ° C. Finally, we provide the consumer with a brief summary of how to buy honey 1- Honey has been sensually examined by him and that it tastes good, smells good, does not have strange or unpleasant odors, does not have fizziness or foam (i.e. not fermented), coherent i.e. mature, its moisture is not high because it is an opportunity for the growth of fungi 2- After that, he takes a sample for laboratory examination to ensure the quality of honey by analyzing it chemically to ensure the proportion of sucrose, moisture, reducing sugars (glucose – fructose), HMF, acidity, diastase enzyme, pink source of honey, percentage of ash, insoluble solids Yeasts and fungi. And some of them may be satisfied, and if they are all in conformity with the specifications and within the optimal limits, then it will be, God willing, therapeutic and according to the source of syphilis, it has an effect on some diseases 3- As for the price, it is not an indicator of quality, it may be cheap or expensive, but we advise the consumer of what the price has decreased and its quality increased.

Dr. Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Arifi Master in the properties of honey bee PhD in the therapeutic properties of bee products

The name of the newspaper / Riyadh- Issue No. / 13048 Date 1/24/1425 AH Writer / Dr. Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Arifi