Mānuka honey is produced by bees that feed on mānuka flowers. The honey from some areas has antibiotic properties. But the antibiotic compound leptospermone, found in the essential oil from mānuka, does not seem to be responsible for the biological activity of the honey.
Listen to biochemist Peter Molan discuss the medicinal value of mānuka honey.
Transcript
Well all honey has, to different degrees, antibacterial properties and mānuka we've found is very strongly antibacterial.
Interviewer: Is it only mānuka honey which has these properties?
Well, other people have found that the common property that honey has is a small content of hydrogen peroxide which affects some types of bacteria. All have that to greater or lesser degrees. We've removed the hydrogen peroxide with an enzyme and then tested what's left and we have found other honeys with smaller degrees of antibacterial activity when we take the hydrogen peroxide away. We suspect, and in fact we can see from chemical analysis, that these are actually a mixture and do contain a component of mānuka honey in them.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
by Emily Tutaki
Sound file from Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, Radio New Zealand collection. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision (Honey's medicinal value/Reference number C890918C)
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