時差N小時:蜂蜜為什么變硬?

If a little honey drizzled on a piece of homemadetoast or into a cup of tea is how you like to start theday, you're not alone. One drawback to honey,though, is that after sitting too long on the shelf, itcrystallizes and that soft, amber liquid turns to ahard, gooey mass.

如果這是你一天生活的開始：將一點蜂蜜細膩地涂在自制的烤面包上，或融入一杯咖啡中，那你并非特殊的一位。然而，蜂蜜有一個缺點，如果長期不食用就會變成晶體，那些柔軟的琥珀色液體就會變成堅硬而膠粘的一團。

Actually, though, only part of the honey is crystallizing. Honey is made mostly of two kinds ofsugar: glucose and fructose. What crystallizes is the glucose, so the more glucose there is incomparison to fructose, the more likely it is to crystallize. But before honey can crystallize, itneeds what's called a “seed” for the crystals to grow on. The seed might be a grain of pollen, aspeck of dust, or even a scratch on the inside of the jar.

然而事實上，蜂蜜中只有一部分會結晶化。蜂蜜主要由兩種糖組成：葡萄糖和果糖。葡萄糖是晶體，因此葡萄糖對果糖的比例越大，那么蜂蜜結晶化的可能性越大。但在蜂蜜變成晶體之前，需要有所謂的“種子”催化晶體生長。“種子”可能是一?；ǚ哿?，一?；覊m，甚至是罐子內壁的刮痕。

But the best seed of all is a bit of honey that has already crystallized. Most of the honey in asupermarket has been heated and filtered to remove virtually all the possible seeds. That slowsthe crystallization, but the heating process also drives off some of the honey's distinctiveflavor.

但最好的種子是少許已經晶體化的蜂蜜。超市里賣的大多數蜂蜜都已經加熱過，幾乎過濾掉了所有可能的種子。這樣會減慢結晶化過程，且加熱過后也驅散了蜂蜜某些獨有的風味。

When honey does crystallize, you can soften it again in a microwave or a pan of warm water,but as it cools the crystallization will begin again-faster even than before. Honey crystallizesfaster the second time because heat alone can't remove all the seeds. Dust, crumbs, and othertiny particles that have accumulated since you first opened the jar will remain as seeds to startthe process all over again.

蜂蜜晶體化了，你可以用微波爐或者一鍋溫水將它軟化，但當溫度冷卻時，蜂蜜會以更快的速度再次晶體化。蜂蜜之所以第二次結晶速度更快，是因為即使加熱也無法清除所有的種子。自第一次打開罐子時，灰塵，碎屑或者其他微小顆粒會在罐內積累，它們作為種子會重新開啟這一過程。