Acacia Honey: Benefits, nutritional value and uses in Pharma and Food Supplements as sweet and spreads

Acacia Honey is one of the most popular honey varieties. With its mild taste and neutral aroma, it’s one of the pharma and food supplement industries favorites, which make the most of this honeys’ potent antioxidant activity.

As sweet and spreads this honey sweetens foods without modifying their natural flavor. It can be enjoyed straight from the spoon, on a toast, with fruit or even over ice cream or cake. It is perfect when paired with cheese.

What is Acacia Honey, what are its benefits and is acacia honey raw a good adding to the pharma and food supplement sectors? Let us introduce you to our brief guide about Acacia Honey benefits and beyond.

Acacia Honey

Acacia Honey is a monofloral honey variety produced by bees pollinating the acacia flower. 

Native to temperate and tropical areas in North America, Asia and Europe, the tree that produces these flowers is Robinia Pseudoancia, also known as the black locust tree or the false acacia tree. With an average height of between 5 to 10 meters, its flowers are yellow (although this may vary for some species) and are the source of an intense smell.

The production of Acacia Honey is especially popular in Eastern European countries, as well as Italy and some Asian countries.

Which are its organoleptic notes?

Acacia Honey presents a distinct appearance, with a light color and texture that can almost look transparent. 

Additionally, because of its high fructose content, Acacia Honey rarely crystallizes, so that it stays liquid for longer than other honey varieties. Its smell is a neutral floral aroma. It is the liquid honey par excellence.

As a result, Acacia Honey is the source of a particularly delicate sensorial experience. This has made it a favorite ingredient for many, including its use in the pharma and food supplement sectors, as we describe further down the article.

What does Acacia Honey taste like?

This honey variety presents an equally smooth, mild and neutral flavor. Again, this has made Acacia Honey a popular option for many, as its use doesn’t significantly modify other tastes or aromas that may be present.

How is Acacia Honey produced?

The production takes place in spring, when honeybees collect the nectar from the blossoms and start the following process:

• They collect nectar from the acacia flowers and blend it with an enzyme secreted from glands in their mouths. The nectar is also shared with other bees in the hive, in order to reduce its water content.
• Water content is further reduced by bees fanning their wings
• The result is then stored in wax cells and capped. 

A sustainable production process of Acacia Honey makes all the difference in the resulting product. 

High-quality raw honey production will guarantee it’s not pasteurized or processed, so that all its properties remain intact.

Health benefits of Acacia Honey

• Powerful antioxidant activity: Acacia Honey is particularly rich in flavonoids and other plant compounds that act as antioxidants, including beta carotene. These act as protection for cells against the damage caused by free radicals, which may result in certain chronic illnesses such as some types of cancer and heart disease, among other issues.
• It helps lower blood pressure: among Acacia Honey benefits are the possibility of lowering systolic blood pressure when substituting traditional sugar for high-quality Acacia Honey. 

Other heart-related benefits include its capabilities for decreasing “bad” cholesterol, lowering triglyceride levels and improving blood circulation in general.

As a result, it’s been linked to reducing the risk of heart disease and strokes. 

• Acacia Honey presents antibacterial properties. The way it acts is it releases small quantities of hydrogen peroxide, an acid that has been shown to eliminate certain bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
• This honey variety has also shown benefits regarding the digestive system, including laxative properties and reduced intestinal inflammation.
• Honey is also known for its relaxing and calming effects, having a positive impact in a number of disorders tied to the nervous system. It can also be beneficial for diseases such as stress, anxiety or insomnia.

Acacia Honey vs other types of honey

From Rosemary Honey or Eucalyptus Honey, there are many types of monofloral honey varieties, all of which present specific organoleptic notes and associated benefits.

In the case of Acacia Honey, the following characteristics serve as clear differentiators:

• Neutral flavor and aroma
• Particularly powerful antioxidant activity
• Low pollen content
• Doesn’t crystallize easily

Why choose Acacia Honey to expand your honey portfolio in the sweet & spreads category?

While other honey varieties such as Manuka Honey have been increasingly popular in the honey portfolio for the sweets and spreads category, Acacia Honey remains a safe bet for its mild taste and aroma. 

Besides, because Acacia Honey stays liquid for longer, its shelf life is prolonged, surely leading to customer satisfaction.

How to use Acacia Honey as ingredient

As honey and related ingredients increase their appeal for consumers looking for high-quality natural ingredients and remedies, the pharma and food supplement sectors are focusing on beehive products.

 The list of Acacia Honey applications is long and includes sweet spreads, vitamins & dietary supplements, cakes, pastries & sweet goods, biscuits and cookies, yogurt, tea, breakfast cereals, cold cereals, energy drinks,  soups, wet soup or beer, among others.

Additionally, there are two sectors in particular that are increasingly interested in Acacia Honey:

Pharma and cosmetics

Acacia Honey is especially valued in the pharma and cosmetics sector, because of its neutral smell and taste.

• Pharma products have focused on honey’s natural abilities as a decongestant, as well as providing cough, cold and flu relief. 
• As scientific evidence has shown Acacia Honey’s potential to minimize acne (due to its antibacterial activity), the cosmetic industry is paying increasing attention to this honey variety. This goes hand in hand with the industry’s quest for effective, natural ingredients that align with consumers’ growing focus on botanical cosmetic treatments.

Food supplements

Food supplements have now long been hailed as an important consumer trend , one that is driven by consumers’ increasing demand for healthy products. In fact, the European nutrition and supplements market is expected to reach around 45 thousand million euros by 2021 (Grand View Research, Inc). 

Acacia Honey is now a common ingredient in a number of food supplement formats, including tablets, capsules, powders, liquids, energy bars and medicated confectionery.

Buy Acacia honey wholesale

At HoneyGreen we work to provide wholesale natural ingredients as a source of value for companies that want to make a positive impact on consumer health and nutrition, while also taking care of the environment.

As such, we offer 300 kg honey drums of guaranteed pure bulk honey in a large variety of monofloral honeys, including Acacia Honey.

If you need more information, contact our specialized team by filling out the form on this link.