Packaging and storage technology of honey

I. Packaging of honey

Honey is a weakly acidic liquid, which can oxidize metals, so it should be packaged in non-metallic containers such as jars, barrels, plastic buckets, etc., and the special packaging containers should be thoroughly cleaned and dried. In areas with high honey production, honey storage tanks can be established, and can also be stored in barrels or water tanks. The barrels and vats used should not have peculiar smell. Packaging honey can not be full, especially in transport to leave 25%-30% of the space, in case honey fermentation overflow or heat shock burst container. The packed honey should be placed in a dry, clean, ventilated and odorless room, and the room temperature should be kept at 5-10℃. Do not put the honey bucket in the open air for a long time, and transfer it in time to ensure the quality of honey.

II. Storage of honey: honey has the characteristics of absorbing odor, moisture absorption and fermentation deterioration. The following matters should be paid attention to.

1. Flower storage: honey of different flower species has different colors, fragrances and tastes, so it should be stored separately to prevent mixing.

2. Keep clean: sometimes because the work is not fine, there are pollen pieces, wax pieces, bee wings, bee feet, ash sand and even bee corpses in the honey, the honey can be placed in a higher vat, placed in a higher temperature, dry indoor precipitation, precipitation time required, 20℃ when it takes 3 days, 35℃ when it takes only 10 hours, debris has sunk, light floating on the surface, you can take out, and then store.

3. Avoid fermentation: yeast is often present in honey, which will decompose some of the sugar in honey. Immature honey, moisture content, suitable for yeast propagation, easy to change acid, not suitable for storage. Therefore, before storage, it must be treated by placing honey in a large container and leaving it open in a dry, ventilated room at a temperature above 25 ° C for several days to evaporate excess water and store it after it is fully mature.

4. Moisture absorption and odor absorption: According to the test, honey dew is placed indoors with a relative humidity of 81%, and the moisture can increase to 32% after 3 months. Therefore, it is best to use sealed porcelain or pots, jars, bowls and other pottery, stored in dry, ventilated, temperature 5-10℃ indoor. If the container cannot be sealed, the storage room must not be placed with strong odors at the same time to prevent honey from absorbing odors.

5. Crystallization of honey: Crystallization is another characteristic of honey. Crystallization of honey has three shapes: oily, fine and coarse. After honey crystallizes, the shape becomes thicker and the color becomes lighter. It can be restored by heating and melting. Light colored honey crystallizes and is ground with a stone mill to a white, greasy cheese state. Both temperature and moisture content affect the crystallization of honey. The honey in different flowers has different crystallization speed and crystallization form. Crystallized honey is beneficial to storage and transportation. In order to speed up crystallization, 0.5% old honey can be mixed into honey. The bottle bag packaging supply market honey, to maintain the appearance of transparent, liquid, to prevent crystallization, can be heated in a double pot. When treating, the outer layer is filled with water and the inner layer is filled with honey. When the honey temperature reaches 71 DEG C, keep it for several minutes, then remove the fire, stand for one day, skim the surface foam, put it into a sterilized glass bottle, and seal it.