The Greek Fir Honey or Greek Pine Honey is one of the rarest products in all over the world. Its impressive pearl-amber color, the characteristic metallic highlights, and its extremely thick texture make it special. It is spicy and it tastes like toffee while the flavors of the various flowers and the fir that are given off, constitute a real feast of tastes and colors. All the above characteristics combined with its natural property not to crystallize and it's rich in trace elements composition, satisfy the most demanding consumers. Enjoy this distinctive type of honey that is generously offered to us by the Greek nature.
Pine tree honey or organic pine honey is what we call a honeydew or forest honey. It is produced by bees that collect honeydew (sugary secretions) from a scale insect species called Marchalina hellenica, which lives on the sap of certain pine trees. The marchalina hellenica can be found of Mount Mainalo in Arcadia. This just means the honey starts off in a slightly different way to more typical honeys. In this case, bees gather nectar from honeydew excreted by plant-sucking insects like greenflies. The better-known method of gathering nectar is by honey bees visiting the flowers of blooming plants.
Honeydew honey is generally quite dark and thick compared to the lighter varieties.
Pine tree honey has a full-bodied yet quite pleasant flavor that is suggestive of pine sap. This is also one of those honey that makes a perfect and much healthier alternative to table sugar. It's particularly nice when taken with black teas. Pine honey is great when it's spread across toast, hot scones or added to pep up fruity dessert dishes. A lot of creative cooks like to add this honey to create a bit of sweetness to various savory dishes too. Culinary uses aside, pine, like many other kinds of honey, boasts some incredible health benefits.
As a Healer
Thanks to its anti-bacterial properties, pine tree honey can be applied directly to the skin as a healing agent. It helps to speed up the healing process of wounds, burns, and sunburn. Those who use it as a healing agent swear by its effectiveness.
Most of the honeydew honey boasts stronger antioxidant properties than the floral varieties. The reason for this is because they contain high levels of flavonoids and phenolic compounds. Antioxidants are important because they are what help to protect against free radicals. The thing that most people relate to free radicals is premature aging. However, physical aging is one of the lesser worries when it comes to the damage that free radicals can cause to human health. It's the age-related disorders that are of most concern. This can include things like heart disease, cancers, Alzheimer's disease, and macular degeneration. So we should embrace anything that can help protect against free radicals.
The Science
A 2007 study looked at the differences between nectar and honeydew honey. The conclusion was this: honeydew honey are better antioxidants than nectar honey.
A 2012 study published in The Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology, and Food Sciences, did some research into honey varieties. The aim was to compare the properties of 18 different kinds of honey. The testing included both floral and forest honey. Researchers found Greek pine honey to be better than all the others with regards to its strong anti-bacterial properties. It exerted antibacterial effects against the following bacterium:
coli
marcescens
sphaericus
epidermidis
subtilis
A 2009 study published in the November issue of the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition also had something to report on pine, honey. They found it to be among the best sugar alternatives of all the honeys. As a natural sweetener, it provided the human body with essential minerals. The researchers state that it's a particularly good source of potassium. Potassium is a mineral that's essential for life. It's necessary for the major organs to work properly, including the heart and kidneys. Pine honey also contains a number of other minerals aside from potassium. These are calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, and zinc.
Summary
Pine tree honey is forest honey with good standing in the world. Its nutritional profile is excellent as is its culinary use. The crystallization of pure pine honey is nice and slow. In fact, this honey will remain fluid for 18 months or more when stored correctly. Whether you're looking for a healthy food staple or a natural healing agent, you will want to put pine tree honey onto your shortlist of options.
Is Fir Honey Vegan or is pine honey vegan if it says it's natural? In the case of fir honey (also known as pine honey), honey bees harvest honeydew from scale insects that live on the sap of certain pine trees. Then, just as with normal honey, a beekeeper exploits the bees to steal the honey they produce from their hives. Since animals are still being exploited to produce this honey, it’s not technically vegan.
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