Gleanings in Bee Culture - March, 1961
5. Effect of Area of Production on Composition 1/
JONATHAN W. WHITE, JR.
Eastern Regional Research Laboratory
Eastern Utilization Research and Development Division
Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture
Philadelphia 18, Pennsylvania
Number five in a series of ten articles on the different honeys of America.
In the first four articles in this series we have discussed the need for new information about the composition of honey and presented a new table of average composition of honey. It has been shown that the same sugars are always found in honey, at least among the monosaccharides and disaccharides, no matter what type it is or where it is produced. It has also been noted that from one year to another, some variation, particularly in granulating tendency, dextrose and moisture content, may be expected.
Another of the many factors that might influence the composition of honey is the area of production. How much difference can we expect between honey of the same floral type grown in different locations, either relatively close together or widely separated? In this instance a number of factors may have an influence, with the final honey composition reflecting the interplay of differences in soils, rainfall, sunshine and other weather factors, different varieties of plants, different farming practices, different minor or competing floral sources, and so on.
Several comparisons of samples may be made to get some information on this point. With our honey samples from 176 floral types and blends of known composition, from 47 of the 50 states, we can make several types of comparisons to clarify these effects.
Valley and High-altitude Alfalfa Honey Compared
It is well known that Imperial Valley alfalfa honey is different from inter-mountain alfalfa honey in color and flavor, being darker and of more pronounced flavor. Beyond that, little is known of other differences that might exist between these two types of alfalfa honey. In Table 1 we find such a comparison. The four valley alfalfa samples which were averaged were from Southern California; the eight intermountain samples originated in Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho and Colorado.
In addition to the flavor and color differences already known, it appears that the valley alfalfa is slightly lower in levulose and slightly higher in dextrose. It also seems to be more prone to granulate. The ash content of the valley alfalfa honey is over twice as high as the intermountain honey. It shows considerably greater content of lactone and acid, but their ratio does not differ from that of the high-altitude alfalfa honey, and the pH value is the same. Otherwise the two types of honey are similar.
When these figures were examined with the aid of statistical procedures, it was found that none of the differences in Table 1 (except granulating tendency) are statistically significant. Thus we found no real difference in composition between alfalfa honey produced in these two areas.
5. Effect of Area of Production on Composition 1/
JONATHAN W. WHITE, JR.
Eastern Regional Research Laboratory
Eastern Utilization Research and Development Division
Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture
Philadelphia 18, Pennsylvania
Number five in a series of ten articles on the different honeys of America.
In the first four articles in this series we have discussed the need for new information about the composition of honey and presented a new table of average composition of honey. It has been shown that the same sugars are always found in honey, at least among the monosaccharides and disaccharides, no matter what type it is or where it is produced. It has also been noted that from one year to another, some variation, particularly in granulating tendency, dextrose and moisture content, may be expected.
Another of the many factors that might influence the composition of honey is the area of production. How much difference can we expect between honey of the same floral type grown in different locations, either relatively close together or widely separated? In this instance a number of factors may have an influence, with the final honey composition reflecting the interplay of differences in soils, rainfall, sunshine and other weather factors, different varieties of plants, different farming practices, different minor or competing floral sources, and so on.
Several comparisons of samples may be made to get some information on this point. With our honey samples from 176 floral types and blends of known composition, from 47 of the 50 states, we can make several types of comparisons to clarify these effects.
Valley and High-altitude Alfalfa Honey Compared
It is well known that Imperial Valley alfalfa honey is different from inter-mountain alfalfa honey in color and flavor, being darker and of more pronounced flavor. Beyond that, little is known of other differences that might exist between these two types of alfalfa honey. In Table 1 we find such a comparison. The four valley alfalfa samples which were averaged were from Southern California; the eight intermountain samples originated in Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho and Colorado.
In addition to the flavor and color differences already known, it appears that the valley alfalfa is slightly lower in levulose and slightly higher in dextrose. It also seems to be more prone to granulate. The ash content of the valley alfalfa honey is over twice as high as the intermountain honey. It shows considerably greater content of lactone and acid, but their ratio does not differ from that of the high-altitude alfalfa honey, and the pH value is the same. Otherwise the two types of honey are similar.
When these figures were examined with the aid of statistical procedures, it was found that none of the differences in Table 1 (except granulating tendency) are statistically significant. Thus we found no real difference in composition between alfalfa honey produced in these two areas.
Table 1. Average Composition of Alfalfa Honey from Different Areas |