SC - Honey Trivia - the not so trivial details

[Linda Peterson]

Aren't we fortunate that there's one micro-organism that honey doesn't kill, and
that's yeast?

Mead-mad Selene

ChannonM at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 8/11/00 7:53:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Balthazar writes:
>
> > Yes, in fact, that IS an interesting bit of trivia.  I have often wondered
> >  why honey was so microbiologically stable, and always assumed it was due
> to
> >  the lack of available water and extremely high sugar content... perhaps
> > there
> >  is more to it after all..
> >
> >  Balthazar of Blackmoor
>
> I too have wondered about honey's effectiveness as a preservative. I thought,
> in addition to Bal's mentions, that the lack of oxygen due to the smothering
> effect of the honey deterred- deterioration. There are many recipes (dating
> back to Apicius) that instruct one to place fruit , for example in a jar of
> honey to keep them for prolonged periods. Now we know more about honey. It is
> reassuring to see developments in modern  science that reconfirm what the
> medieval person understood. Not that they necessarily knew the chemical
> rational, but they had IMO, a significant understanding of what worked and
> what didn't. (Okay, I have a feeling there is lots of debate on this, but I'm
> going to war and will be unsubbing for the week, y'all can take over that
> conundrum :) )