New Zealand's active manuka honey is used as a natural product both internally and topically on the skin. Apitherapy, the name given to treatment with natural honey, has been used by many different cultures throughout history. Such uses are now being reconsidered by a modern world in light of new research into the properties and uses of active manuka honey. What is known as 'Active' Manuka Honey has enjoyed growing acceptance by the academic and medical world of late, and reporting of the honey's unique properties has proliferated in the world's press and media.

Manuka honey comes from New Zealand where beekeepers set up their hives in wild uncultivated areas in which Manuka bushes grow. The bees gather nectar from the flowers of the Manuka bush, which is indigenous only to New Zealand. The honey making process is enriched by the pollution free environment of New Zealand, and certain harvests of Manuka Honey have attracted the gaze of the medicial and scientific community. Some of the Manuka Honey produced has been found to have some very special properties indeed.

The importance of the UMF rating system

Please take the time to read and understand the importance of the 'UMF' rating system for Manuka Honey. While Manuka Honey has received increasing press coverage, many journalists do not distinguish between ordinary Manuka Honey and Active Manuka Honey.

The UMF rating is your key indicator as to the strength of the antibacterial effect. A rating of 10 or more is considered to be suitable for therapeutic medical use. Such honey is referred to as 'active', although much ordinary Manuka Honey is still marketed as being active despite not having the required minimal rating.

The UMF rating is your guarantee that the honey has been tested and verified for its antibacterial activity by the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

In recent years honey has begun to enjoy something of a renaissance in it's use as a therapeutic treatment for many internal and external ailments, both serious and minor. This is thanks to a proliferation in research into Active Manuka Honey together with positive results from hospital trials investigating its usefulness.

Honey is an ancient luxury food but also played a central role as a traditional wound dressing used by many cultures throughout history including the native Maoris of New Zealand. It is only in the last decade that the world's medical establishment has begun to take more seriously the possible clinical benefits of Active Manuka Honey and consider it as a first line treatment in a number of serious skin surface applications. The discovery of a unique antibacterial property has led Active Manuka Honey to be considered for both external and internal digestive uses. Previously, this valuable natural resource has been disregarded by conventional medical wisdom to be no more important than any other 'traditional' or homeopathic remedy.

Much of the credit for the advancement in our understanding must be given to Dr. Peter Molan of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. Dr Molan has been involved in studying and cataloguing the effects of honey on the healing process leading to a fuller appreciation of the factors at play in the treatment of a persistent bacterial skin infection.

All honey has some level of the antibacterial chemical hydrogen peroxide, which is produced by enzymes in the honey. These enzymes are easily destroyed by exposure to heat and light and also by contact with body fluids. It is now understood that some rare honeys have an antibacterial action that is separate to the peroxide effect, resulting in a much more persistent and stable antibacterial action. Such valuable honeys are resistant to losing their antibacterial activity when used in wound treatment and even have strong activity when heavily diluted by body fluids in a wound dressing. Furthermore, such honeys are now known to have a synergistic antibacterial effect with the hydrogen peroxide activity, producing a very powerful weapon against bacterial conditions.

Varying quality of honey

Since 1991 it has been recognised that not all honey is effective in its non-peroxide anti-bacterial action and in its promotion of healing - in fact the variability between different batches of honey can be as much as 100-fold. In 1996 an organisation called TradeNZ, in conjunction with the Honey Research Unit, set about to establish a standard for the classification of antibacterial honey activity. This led to the creation of the UMF® industry standard - UMF standing for Unique Manuka Factor. The Honey Research Unit developed a procedure for rating honeys which has now been in place for some time.

Tested batches of Manuka Honey are given a UMF® rating, depending on their tested antibacterial activity. A UMF® rating of 10 is the minimum activity to gain the UMF rating and thus be considered useful in serious applications. Honey achieving this rating is commonly referred to as Active Manuka Honey, although manuka honey is often marketed as being 'active' even though it is not. While Manuka honey is fairly widely available, it is considered that only that which carries the UMF® registered trademark should be chosen if the intended use is for therapeutic purposes, and the majority of recent medical trial have predominantly used manuka honey with a UMF strength of 10 or more.