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SALT LAKE CITY -- Honey has been used not only as a food source, sweetener and ointment for thousands of years, but a lesser-known kind of honey may help in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.
Manuka honey is a monofloral honey like the more familiar clover variety, only the bees which produce it feed exclusively on the plant Leptospermum scoparium, more commonly known as the Manuka tree, the Maori name for the species. It can be used to make tea, which is what Captain Cook used it for during his travels to New Zealand.
However, products made from the plant also exhibit strong antiseptic and antimicrobial properties, including honey produced using the plant.
All honey exhibits these qualities to a certain extent, but Manuka honey is potent to a degree not seen in any other variety.
According to BBC news, the sticky antibiotic is effective against infections such as MRSA, a bug that infects open wounds and does not respond to traditional antibacterials. Manuka honey can also be effective against the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers. In fact, Manuka honey can not only kill the bacteria, but also makes some kinds more susceptible to traditional antibiotics in an antimicrobial double whammy.
The chemistry behind all this is not well understood yet, but the properties are consistent enough and well documented enough to have been approved by the FDA for medical use. Comvita, a New Zealand based natural health company, markets bandages made from seaweed and sterilized Manuka honey that is actually approved for use in hospitals as a dressing for wounds. Manuka-containing topical antiseptics can be found at some health food stores, and online with ease.
Not all Manuka is identical, however, as the potency of its healing properties depends on where and how it was produced. Two systems are available to help determine potency the Unique Manuka Factor scale, which rates the potency of the honey, and the MGO scale, which rates one of the proposed active ingredients, methylglyoxal. Both systems are trademarked, and honey with one of the scales on it's label should be considered more reliable.
