Hi Everyone,

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Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
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>>> [log in to unmask] 11/30/00 07:49AM >>> wrote in part:

"Thanks Dan for another attempt at why.  You said fructose and glucose is
"dry".  Is this a scientific term?  What do you mean by "dry"?  The research
refers to fructose and glucose being more stable, which presumably means that
they are less likely to breakdown as sucrose does."

I don't know about "dry" either but the osmotic pressure is determined by the number of "particles" not by their size so breaking sucrose into two simple sugars increases the osmotic pressure of the mixture.  It is the osmotic pressure that preserves honey by "pulling" moisture out of yeast and bacterial cells so they can't grow.  This is also why honey with too much moisture ferments - there is not enough sugar in the solution ( honey) to "pull" the water away from the yeasts and keep them from growing.

Note trying to keep this non-technical but simplification sometimes results in loss of accuracy.

This still does not answer the question of "why" they do it but gives one reason it is helpful.

blane