Honey That Has Outlasted Empires

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.

Wataalamu wa mambo ya kale walipofungua kaburi la mfalme wa Misri Tutankhamun mwanzoni mwa miaka ya ishirini ya karne iliyopita, waligundua vito, sanamu, na safu za vyungu vya udongo vilivyofungwa. Baadhi ya vyungu hivyo vilikuwa na asali, na ingawa miaka elfu tatu ilikuwa imepita tangu mtu wa mwisho kuigusa, asali iliyokuwamo ilikuwa bado nzuri kabisa. Ingeweza, kihalisi kabisa, kuliwa papo hapo.

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.

Hii si tukio la kipekee. Asali ni miongoni mwa vyakula vichache vya asili ambavyo kwa hakika haviozi kamwe. Vyungu vya zamani zaidi vimepatikana mahali pengine: nchini Georgia, wataalamu wa mambo ya kale waligundua asali iliyozikwa pamoja na mwanamke mtukufu takriban miaka elfu tano na mia tano iliyopita, na hiyo pia ilikuwa bado tamu na ya kuliwa.

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.

Maelezo yapo katika kemia, si uchawi. Bakteria hawawezi kuota bila maji, na asali haina karibu maji kabisa. Nyuki huanza na nekta, ambayo mwanzoni ina takriban asilimia themanini ya maji, kisha wanaipepea kwa mabawa yao ndani ya mzinga hadi ipungue hadi karibu asilimia kumi na saba, na kuacha kiowevu kizito na kinene kiasi kwamba karibu hakuna kitu kinachoweza kuishi ndani yake.

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.

Asali pia ina tindikali kidogo, ikiwa na kiwango cha pH cha karibu nne, kiwango ambacho bakteria wengi hawawezi kustahimili. Zaidi ya hayo, nyuki huongeza kiasi kidogo cha kimeng'enya kinachozalisha polepole hidrojeni peroksaidi, dawa ile ile ya kuua vijidudu inayouzwa katika duka lolote la dawa.

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.

Zikichukuliwa pamoja, kinga hizi tatu, karibu kutokuwepo kwa maji, pH ya chini, na kiasi kidogo cha kudumu cha peroksaidi, zinamaanisha kwamba asali, ikishafungwa na kuhifadhiwa mahali pakavu, inaweza kubaki bila kusumbuliwa kwenye rafu, ndani ya pango, au kwenye kaburi la kifalme kwa muda unaokaribia milele.

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.

Kwa hivyo ikiwa asali yako itawahi kuwa na mawingu na kuganda ndani ya chupa, jizuie kuitupa. Ipashe moto kwa upole katika bakuli la maji ya moto na fuwele hizo zitayeyuka na kurudi kuwa kiowevu. Asali hiyo haikuwahi kuharibika hata kidogo. Inabainika kuwa asali, mara nyingi, haiwezi kabisa kuwa mbaya.