Altai honey: types and composition
Altai honey has always been famous and was in special demand due to its healing properties. And this is not surprising, because Altai is a beautiful region with unique nature and a special climate. All this, of course, affects the quality of honey. What is the use of such honey, and what types of Altai delicacies exist, we will consider in this article.
Peculiarities
Altai honey is a special type of beekeeping product, which is distinguished not only by its unique taste and aroma, but also by its benefits. The product acquires unique useful qualities due to the special natural conditions and the unique nature of the Altai Territory. This is a completely ecologically clean area with a mild climate, a variety of medicinal herbs and clean air.
The Altai Territory can be conditionally divided into flat and mountainous parts, which makes it possible to obtain a diverse and very useful honey. As a rule, beekeepers distinguish four zones. These are steppe, forest-steppe or subtaiga, foothill and mountain-forest. A variety of herbs and plants, which are unique and healing in their own right, allow bees to make incredibly healthy honey.
Another feature of this region is that not only agricultural melliferous plants grow there, which many beekeepers plant intentionally, but also wild plants that have invaluable benefits.
Altai bees are also considered unique because they are ready to work with a wide variety of honey plants. They work in the taiga, collect nectar from various plants, and this allows them to make much more healing honey.
Beneficial features
Honey from this fertile land can be immediately distinguished. Often it has a light shade. There are species that initially have a light amber or even greenish color, but after crystallization they still turn white. As a rule, this product has an average density and a unique aroma. Its texture is fine-grained, and the taste is soft, delicate, and sometimes with a slight bitterness.
Each honey from the Altai Territory, despite its appearance, contains a large amount of substances useful for the body. The natural product is rich in various amino acids, minerals, ash, vitamins and enzymes. The use of such honey helps to strengthen the immune system, improves metabolism and digestion, has a positive effect on the functioning of the stomach and intestines, helps food to be better absorbed in the body, removes toxins and tones the general condition of a person.
In addition, the useful elements of such a product have a positive effect on brain function, improve memory, preventing the development of sclerosis and other diseases. Vitamins and other elements have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the kidneys, liver, heart, the functioning of the nervous system improves, the condition of the skin improves, fatigue disappears and efficiency increases.
This product is recommended to use in moderate doses for insomnia, weakened immunity, during seasonal colds, regular headaches, severe stress, liver disease, gastritis, ulcers and anemia.
In addition, this unique product is not only consumed internally in order to improve health, but it is also widely used in cosmetology. It is often added to various masks, which helps restore skin tone, elasticity, firmness, youth and beauty. The main feature of this honey is that, due to its purity and benefits, it almost never causes allergic reactions.
In case of individual intolerance to the bee product and allergy to the product, its use should be abandoned. And also with great care in small doses and with the permission of the attending physician, this product should be used by those who suffer from high blood pressure.
In the case of a disease in which honey should not be consumed, such a delicacy should be discarded. For example, with diabetes, diathesis in children and obesity. And also do not give this product to children under three years of age. The use of this product in large quantities can also cause irreparable harm to the body. Therefore, it is worth observing the measure, and always remember about contraindications.
Varieties
Altai honey can be of different varieties, because it all depends on the area and at what time of the year it was collected. Each of the types of this unique product receives numerous positive reviews from those who have already managed to appreciate all its benefits.
Collecting nectar from taiga grasses and not only, bees help to “make” taiga honey, unique in its benefits and taste. As a rule, in addition to various herbs, hardworking bees collect nectar from blueberries, currants, raspberries, lingonberries, angelica and other plants. The result is a unique product of yellow, brown, reddish or even brown color. The taste of this honey is very sweet, rich, with herbal notes. And its aroma is very complex and multifaceted.
The taiga product turns out to be very viscous, it is considered one of the most valuable varieties of honey.Its chemical composition often changes, as it all depends on the period of collection and flowering of various herbs and plants. This product contains a huge amount of useful substances, amino acids, enzymes. And its calorie content is more than three hundred kilocalories per hundred grams of product.
One of the rare and unique species is sainfoin honey. This product got its unusual name due to the fact that bees collect nectar from tender sainfoin buds. This amazing flower begins to bloom one of the first. As a result, the product is white, sometimes an unusual greenish tint. This honey crystallizes for a very long time and remains liquid for a long time.
After the crystallization process, it becomes a creamy consistency, which is very uncharacteristic of other types of honey. It tastes very pleasant, not at all cloying. The calorie content of the product is more than three hundred kilocalories.
Another type of honey from this region is mountain honey. Usually bees collect nectar from the end of spring. It contains the nectar of herbs such as acacia, clover, chestnut, St. John's wort, linden and even lavender. The result is an unusually tasty, slightly sugary honey with a slight bitterness in taste. And its aroma resembles a bouquet of various flowers and herbs. The product is predominantly dark in color, sometimes yellow or reddish. Initially, such products are very liquid, but thicken after three months.
The main feature of mountain honey from the Altai Territory is that it contains a large amount of tannins, various vitamins, acids, micro and macro elements. The calorie content of this product is a little more than two hundred and eighty kilocalories.It has a unique antibacterial property, which is why it is often used during colds.
One of the most common types of Altai beekeeping products is field honey. Bees begin to work in early spring and until late autumn. Therefore, the product is very rich, absorbing the benefits of a variety of herbs. The composition of this honey includes nectars of herbs such as sage, thistle, chamomile, dandelion, bluebell and so on. The taste of such a product is soft, delicate. The aroma is light, floral. The color is light yellow, sometimes amber. The peculiarity of this product is that its composition is very balanced, due to which it has great benefits and has a beneficial effect on the body. Its calorie content is almost three hundred kilocalories.
In early spring and until early autumn, bees work to create meadow honey. It includes herbs such as cumin, St. John's wort, oregano, clover, oregano, dandelion and so on. The color of the finished product can vary from light yellow to dark amber, as it all depends on the flowering of a particular herb during the nectar collection period. The taste of such honey is very rich, with a slight nutty flavor. Its aroma is unique - floral, with hints of fruit. The calorie content of such a product sometimes reaches four hundred kilocalories per hundred grams.
In many areas of the Altai Territory, yellow acacia grows, which is the main "ingredient" of acacia honey. The product is light yellow in color, and after crystallization becomes almost white. Its aroma is weak, but the taste is uniquely soft and unobtrusively sweet. Its calorie content reaches almost three hundred kilocalories.
And also among the Altai types of honey, buckwheat can be noted, which is distinguished by its dark color and the fact that it contains a large amount of iron, protein and various minerals.
Diaghilev, which has a very unusual taste and aroma. The product is very viscous, leaves a residue on the throat, a pleasant aftertaste.
And sweet clover honey has a unique forest aroma and is considered one of the best products of the Altai Territory.
Each product from this amazing land is unique and has a rich chemical composition, which brings great benefits to every person.
An easy way to check the quality of honey, see the following video.