What is honey crystallization?

Although crystallization itself is not a measure of whether honey is real or adulterated, some characteristics of crystallization itself are. Therefore, crystallization occurs in both real and counterfeit honey. On the other hand, many consumers believe that crystallization is a characteristic of bad honey, and they couldn't be more wrong. We will try to explain this in this text.

To clarify, there is no reason to consider crystallized honey less valuable because in reality it is quite the opposite - crystallization is the most normal natural phenomenon of honey when standing, and therefore we can be sure that crystallized honey is natural.

Crystallization occurs because the glucose (natural grape sugar) in honey at a certain temperature does not remain in a viscous state, but crystals are formed, so the honey first takes on a creamy state, and later, after standing for a longer time, it becomes solid and crystallizes.

It is important to emphasize that crystallization has no effect on the chemical composition of honey.

Whether honey will change from a liquid to a solid state (crystallize) depends primarily on the concentration of sugar in the honey, the amount of water, and the relative ratio of the two main sugars, glucose (grape sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar), in the honey. If honey contains more glucose, it crystallizes faster, and the speed of crystallization is also affected by storage conditions, air temperature and humidity in the room, and exposure to sunlight. In addition, crystallization is also affected by the plant from which the honey comes, so if the percentage of glucose is higher, such as in spring flowers, rapeseed, sunflower, and dandelion, the honey crystallizes faster.

Crystallization occurs fairly evenly, from bottom to top or from top to bottom, as is the case when mixing, for example, flower and acacia honey.

In any case, natural honey crystallizes evenly, while adulterated honey, if it crystallizes, creates irregular and somewhat strange crystal shapes.