Disease relevance of Honey

• Both pollen and insect allergen activity was found in all honeys, and they could cause allergic reactions [1].
• The honeys were tested against Staphylococcus aureus in an agar well diffusion assay, with reference to phenol as a standard [2].
• It may, therefore, be suggested that pure natural honeys in low doses may be recommended as a source of carbohydrates and even as a sweetening agent in place of sucrose to the human patients suffering from diabetes mellitus (JPMA 39: 107, 1989) [3].
• In higher doses of 10 ml/kg and 15 ml/kg body weight, all the three honeys produced a significant (P less than 0.05 or P less than 0.001) rise in blood glucose levels of normal as well as alloxan-diabetic rabbits [3].

High impact information on Honey

• Eight commercially available honeys were examined for allergen activity by RAST inhibition and immunospot methods [1].
• Good correlation was found between antioxidant capacity assessed through the proposed method and phenolic content: r = 0.94 for red wines, r = 0.96 for white and rose wines, and r = 0.89 for honeys [4].
• The implications of these results for identifying the source and subsequent concentrations of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honeys and commercial bee pollen are briefly discussed [5].
• Instead, these types of Eucalyptus honeys may contain tricetin, quercetin, and/or luteolin as their main flavonoid compounds [6].
• Compared to honeys from other geographical origins, the absence or minor presence of propolis-derived flavonoids such as pinobanksin, pinocembrin, and chrysin in Australian honeys is significant [6].

Anatomical context of Honey

• All honeys significantly increased the TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 release from MM6 cells (and human monocytes) when compared with untreated and artificial-honey-treated cells (P<0.001) [7].

Associations of Honey with chemical compounds

• Thus, flavonoid analysis could be used as an objective method for the authentication of the botanical origin of Eucalyptus honeys [6].
• Glucose and fructose were also similar to honeys and were more antimutagenic than maltose and sucrose [8].
• These factors give a good explanation for the relatively high caesium contamination of heather honeys [9].
• Yet, the finding of sulfanilamide residues in some 15 Swiss honeys out of some 350 samples could not be explained by such apicultural practice [10].
• A multiresidue method was developed for the determination of 15 pesticides (organochlorines, organophosphorus compounds, pyrethroids, and other acaricides) in various commercial honeys (eucalyptus, lavender, orange, rosemary, and multifloral) [11].

Gene context of Honey

• Identification and quantification of antioxidant components of honeys from various floral sources [12].
• Since antimicrobial activity of the darker colored test honeys was not eliminated by catalase treatment, non-peroxide components such as antioxidants may contribute to controlling the growth of some foodborne pathogens [13].
• When antibacterial activity was assayed with catalase added to remove hydrogen peroxide, most of the honeys showed no detectable antibacterial activity [2].
• However, NIR spectroscopy may be an acceptable method for semiquantitative evaluation of sucrose for honeys, such as those in our study, containing up to 3% of sucrose [14].
• ANOVA highlighted significant differences between the honeys in terms of the mean contents of all variables except apparent sucrose, HMF, Fe and Zn [15].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Honey

• Analysis of chloramphenicol in honeys of different geographical origin by liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry [16].
• Oral administration of pure small or large-bee honeys in 5 ml/kg/doses could not produce a significant (P greater than 0.05) increase in glucose levels in normal and alloxan-diabetic rabbits whereas the adulterated honey significantly raised the blood glucose levels in normal and hyperglycaemic rabbits even at this low dosage [3].

References