Med koji je nadživio carstva

Kada su arheolozi otvorili grobnicu egipatskog kralja Tutankamona ranih tisuću devetsto dvadesetih godina, otkrili su nakit, kipove i redove zapečaćenih glinenih posuda. Nekoliko tih posuda sadržavalo je med, i iako je prošlo tri tisuće godina otkako ga je itko dotaknuo, med u njima bio je i dalje savršeno dobar. Doslovno se mogao pojesti na licu mjesta.

When archaeologists opened the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamun in the early nineteen twenties, they uncovered jewellery, statues, and rows of sealed clay pots. Several of those pots held honey, and although three thousand years had passed since anyone had touched it, the honey inside was still perfectly good. It could, quite literally, have been eaten on the spot.

Ovo nipošto nije usamljena zanimljivost. Med je jedna od rijetkih prirodnih namirnica koja u biti nikada ne pokvari. Čak su i starije posude pronađene drugdje: u Gruziji su arheolozi pronašli med pokopan uz plemkinju otprilike prije pet tisuća pet stotina godina, i on je također bio slatak i jestiv.

This is far from a one off curiosity. Honey is one of the very few natural foods that essentially never spoils. Even older jars have turned up elsewhere: in Georgia, archaeologists recovered honey buried alongside a noblewoman roughly five thousand five hundred years ago, and it, too, was still sweet and edible.

Objašnjenje leži u kemiji, a ne u čarolji. Bakterije ne mogu rasti bez vode, a med je gotovo uopće nema. Pčele počinju s nektarom, koji u početku sadrži otprilike osamdeset posto vode, i krilima ga hlade unutar košnice dok se udio vode ne smanji na otprilike sedamnaest posto, ostavljajući tekućinu toliko gustu da u njoj gotovo ništa ne može preživjeti.

The explanation lies in chemistry rather than magic. Bacteria cannot grow without water, and honey contains almost none. Bees begin with nectar, which starts out roughly eighty percent water, and fan it with their wings inside the hive until it has reduced to around seventeen percent, leaving a liquid so thick and dense that almost nothing can survive inside it.

Med je također blago kiseo, s pH vrijednošću od otprilike četiri, razinom koju većina bakterija smatra potpuno neprijateljskom za život. Uz to, pčele dodaju tragove enzima koji polako stvara vodikov peroksid, isto ono sredstvo za dezinfekciju koje se prodaje u svakoj ljekarni.

Honey is also mildly acidic, with a pH of around four, a level most bacteria find thoroughly inhospitable. On top of that, bees add a trace of an enzyme that slowly generates hydrogen peroxide, the very disinfectant sold in any pharmacy.

Zajedno, ta tri obrambena mehanizma, gotovo nimalo vode, niska pH vrijednost i stalan, slab trag peroksida, znače da med, jednom zapečaćen i držan na suhom, može neometano stajati na polici, u špilji ili u kraljevskoj grobnici gotovo zauvijek.

Taken together, these three defences, almost no water, a low pH, and a constant faint trace of peroxide, mean that honey, once sealed and kept dry, can sit undisturbed on a shelf, in a cave, or in a royal tomb for what amounts to forever.

Zato, ako se tvoj med u staklenki ikada zamuti i iskristalizira, odupri se želji da ga baciš. Blago ga zagrij u zdjeli tople vode i kristali će se ponovno pretvoriti u sirup. Med uopće nikada nije bio pokvaren. Ispada da med gotovo nikada zapravo nije loš.

So if your own honey ever turns cloudy and crystallises in the jar, resist the urge to throw it away. Warm it gently in a bowl of hot water and the crystals will dissolve back into syrup. The honey was never spoiled to begin with. Honey, it turns out, is almost never actually bad.