16 varieties ranked by total mineral content (ash %) and potassium (mg/100g). The 14× gap between Buckwheat (0.42% ash) and Acacia (0.03%) mirrors the antioxidant gap — driven by the same plant-root mineral loading. Tap any bar to explore.
The 14× Mineral Gap — Buckwheat honey (0.42% ash, 88 mg K/100g) contains 14× more total minerals and 15× more potassium than Acacia honey (0.03% ash, 6 mg K/100g). Both jars sit on the same supermarket shelf. The same 14× ratio appears in the antioxidant index — both gaps are driven by the same variable: plant phenolic and mineral loading from root-to-nectar.
Heather & Chestnut: Why the EU Made Exceptions — EU Directive 2001/110/EC caps ash at 0.6% for most honey but 0.8% for declared heather and chestnut varieties. This is a direct acknowledgement that authentic chestnut and heather honeys regularly exceed the general mineral baseline — the exception was written to prevent genuine high-mineral honeys from failing adulteration screens calibrated for pale commodity honey.
Honey vs. Sugar: The Substitution Argument — A tablespoon (21g) of Buckwheat honey delivers ~0.25 mg iron and ~1.05 mg magnesium. The same quantity of white granulated sugar delivers 0.0 mg of either. Honey is not a primary mineral source (even Buckwheat delivers <2% of the potassium RDA per serving) — but as a sweetener substitution, the mineral comparison favours dark raw honey over all refined alternatives.
Sources: White (1979) USDA Tech Bull 1261; Bogdanov et al. (2008) Am Bee J; Escuredo et al. (2013) Nutrients 5:3200; Conti et al. (2007) J Food Compos Anal 20:682–689; Alvarez-Suarez et al. (2010) Med J Nutr Metab 3(1):15–23. EU 2001/110/EC: ash ≤0.6% (general); ≤0.8% (heather/chestnut).