Citrus Honey from the Aurunci Mountains - Artisan production

Citrus Honey from the Ahrnci Mountains: Characteristics and Properties

The honey is the food product that bees produce by collecting and transforming the nectar of flowers or honeydew that in summer they find on different spontaneous or cultivated plants. Being composed of 70-75% fructose and glucose, honey is a food with high energy and nutritional power, able to provide the body with simple sugars readily available, without causing any digestive fatigue.

The enormous nutritional and health value of this wonderful product is also due to the numerous other nutritional elements contained in it: mineral salts (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, silicon, iron, etc.), organic acids, essential amino acids, digestive enzymes, vitamins, essential oils and phenolic substances (responsible for antioxidant properties and part of the antimicrobial activity).

Compared to refined sugar, it is therefore a much more complete and healthy food, able to provide considerable benefits, bringing fewer calories (100 g of sugar contain 400 Kcal against the 320 contained by the same amount of honey). Unlike honey, sugar, to be assimilated, "steals" from our body vitamins and mineral salts (especially calcium and chromium), thus favoring the appearance of bone diseases and dental caries, as well as increasing the danger of diabetes and altering the bacterial flora.

THE PROPERTIES OF HONEY

There is now numerous scientific researches and clinical tests that have confirmed that natural unpasteurized honey brings numerous benefits to our health. We list some of them:

• Calming action of cough and decongestant of the respiratory tract, thanks to its emollient, expectorant and antibacterial properties;
• Improvement of physical performance thanks to the high presence of monosaccharides, thus giving greater resistance to fatigue and increasing concentration and mental efficiency. For this reason it is particularly suitable for sportsmen, people engaged in strenuous work, students and employees;
• Protective and detoxifying action of the liver;
• Improvement of cardiac activity and antianemic supply;
• Specifies stimulating and regulating function of the digestive system (the absorption of simple sugars contained in honey beneficially influences constipation and assists in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders);

As confirmed by recent studies, natural honey is a powerful bacteriostatic and bactericidal. This is due to several factors (the high concentration of carbohydrates, its acid pH and the presence of polyphenols) that make it able to inhibit the development of numerous bacterial strains, even among the most dangerous and resistant to traditional antibiotics, and that make it particularly suitable for disinfection, hydration and healing of wounds, burns and sores. The  fresh honey also contains an enzyme produced by the bees themselves (glucose oxidase) which, in certain dilutions, causes the formation of hydrogen peroxide, a powerful disinfectant!

The intake of honey promotes the fixation of calcium-magnesium, also exerting a recalcifying action that favors the ossification and teething of the baby during pregnancy and in the period of growth. It has also been shown that unpasteurized honey contains a specific enzyme, inhibin, which slows down the proliferation of Streptococcus mutans, the main cause of dental caries.

FROM THE HIVE TO THE TABLE

As tradition dictates, our honey has not been subjected to any pasteurization or refining treatment and therefore maintains all its organoleptic and nutritional properties unaltered.

The only work carried out by the beekeeper is to extract the honey deposited by the bees in the wax honeycombs, to filter it and pack it in glass jars.

All the honeys at the origin are in the liquid state but, over time, most of them tend to form crystals or solidify. The crystallization of honey is a natural process that guarantees the integrity of the vital substances contained in it. To make it liquid again, just dip the jar in a water bath in hot water, not exceeding 40 °.

Florapi honey awarded with a drop of gold 

Also in 2016 this honey obtained a drop of gold at the Competition "Great Honeys of Italy" (Giulio Piana), the most important selection of honeys of national production. This recognition was awarded after subjecting the product to chemical-physical analysis and after being tasted by a jury of experts in sensory analysis of honey.

Florapi conquers two golden bees at the competition of working earth honeys. 

The competition held at the Masseria delle sorgenti Ferrarelle in Riardo saw the participation of numerous beekeepers for a total of 64 samples in the race subjected to careful analysis and evaluation by the experts of the National Register of Honey Tasters.

The Florapi company has achieved great success, with the awarding of 2 honeys out of the 3 sent, thus becoming the only one in the province of Latina to have been awarded.

To obtain a golden bee each, were chestnut honey and forest honeydew honey, both high quality honeys that enhance the Aurunco territory.