Australian Manuka Honey
Australian Manuka Honey and New Zealand Manuka Honey have some of the highest antibacterial properties in the world. It is one reason why it is one of nature’s most sought after super foods.
Manuka Honey is created when bees visit the flowers produced by the Leptospermum plant (also called the Manuka Bush or Native Tea Tree Plant) which is native to New Zealand, Australia and some plants have even been found in South East Asia. To learn more about the botanicals involved with this plant, please click here.
The substance that the bees create for us is what we call “Manuka Honey“. It is a wonderful all-natural sweeter that has a dark brown colour, is very “thick” so it doesn’t run off the spoon as easily as many Supermarket honey’s do. It also has a stronger taste and it slightly “bitter”, than when compared directly with a lot of Supermarket honeys (I think it tastes great though).
Researchers now believe that because Australian Manuka Honey is based on the same source plant family – being the Leptospermum plant, that Australian Manuka Honey can be just as powerful as New Zealand Manuka Honey, and potentially even more so. Research is currently being undertaken by both the University of The Sunshine Coast and The University of Technology Sydney (UTS). These early results are very promising indeed. (source ABC.net.au).
The Manuka Honey is rated depending on it’s level of “active” plant phenols, or anti-bacterial, anti-microbial levels. Some of these Manuka Honey rating systems are trademarked and can often be very confusing for consumers.
The top three ways to rate honey are the
- UMF Honey Association This is a trademarked term by the Unique Manuka Honey Association New Zealand. It is a measure of a number of key active compounds which are unique to Manuka Honey. For more information, please click here.
- Methlygloxal Rating Often shown as either MG (no trademark) or MGO (trademarked term). This specifically looks at the level of Methylglyoxal ONLY in the honey. For more information on the trademarked term MGO, please click here.
MGO Trademark owned by Manuka Health New Zealand Limited NPA Stands for ‘Non Peroxide Activity’ This is not a trademarked term. For more information, please click here.
To explain further on the benefits found in Australian Manuka Honey, please watch this short 2 minute video by Australia’s leading Honey producer, Capilano Honey.
- Video Title: Australian Manuka Honey Explained By Capilano Honey
- Video Author: Capilano Honey Video Date: Feb 1, 2017
To see more videos by Capilano Honey, please click here.
To learn more about the health benefits of Manuka Honey, please click here.
What is your favourite honey story? Do you like your honey in drinks and smoothies or do you prefer it with baked goods. Have you ever kept bees at your place? Was it fun? Please feel free to leave any comments suggestions or thoughtful hints in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
Thank you for visiting us today.
