A bee foraging on wild buckwheat flowers (Eriogonum fasciculatum)

Buckwheat honey is a robust, dark honey made by honeybees who feed on buckwheat.

It has been described as having a distinctive aroma[1] with notes of "leather" and "barnyard",[2] but its flavor has also found to vary by region: Buckwheat honey from the northeastern United States is often from cultivated buckwheat and is "very dark" and "pungent" with "a strong goaty flavor profile"; some tasters say that it tastes "distinctly like cat pee."[3] Buckwheat honey from California, usually derived from wild buckwheat, tastes lighter and sweeter.[3]

Buckwheat is a good crop for honey as its flowers tend to produce a rich supply of nectar.[4] A healthy crop may produce 60 kilograms per hectare per season,[1] and a record yield of 150 kilograms per hectare has been recorded.[4] Countries which produce it include Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, the United States,[4] and the Ukraine.[1] In Ontario, Canada, the local buckwheat honey gets a premium price of over $5/lb. in the barrel. It is sold in fine restaurants and in specialty shops for gourmet cooks and chefs where it can be used as a coffee sweetener and on vanilla cake as a dessert option. [5]

It contains about 37% glucose and 40% levulose.[1] It contains more iron, protein and phenolic anti-oxidants than lighter honeys.[1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Yoirish, N. (2001). Curative Properties of Honey and Bee Venom. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 0-89875-409-7.
  2. ^ Mandelbaum, Ryan F. (May 27, 2016). "Wine Tasting Not for You? Try Honey Tasting". Popular Science. Archived from the original on August 31, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016. ((cite magazine)): Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Ouellette, Jennifer (October 12, 2015). "Why Some Honey Tastes Like Cat Pee". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2016. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b c Biacs; Aubrecht; Léder; Lajos (2013). "4.4.3 Buckwheat Honey". Pseudocereals and Less Common Cereals. Springer. p. 140. ISBN 978-3-66-209544-7.
  5. ^ http://ontag.farms.com/profiles/blogs/ontario-beekeepers-prize-pungent-buckwheat-honey
  6. ^ Khalil, Md. Ibrahim; Alam, Nadia (2013). Boukraâ, Laïd (ed.). Honey in Traditional and Modern Medicine. CRC Press. pp. 390–391. ISBN 1-43984-017-2.
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