Manuka is a myrtle plant from New Zealand
In order to understand the special nature of Manuka honey, we should first of all take a look at the honey we are familiar with here. Even normal bee honey has many good properties. Honey has been used since ancient times, both internally and externally.
The special power of almost all honeys is due to their hydrogen peroxide content. Bees release an enzyme called glucose oxidase during honey production.
This enzyme ensures that small amounts of hydrogen peroxide are constantly produced from the sugar in the honey. The content of hydrogen peroxide in honey varies depending on the origin, botany, mixture and weather conditions.
Hydrogen peroxide is largely destroyed by light and heat, which reduces its strength accordingly. This is why it is always said that honey should not be stirred into boiling hot tea, as the honey then loses its effect.
Hydrogen peroxide also needs oxygen in order to develop its power. This is why normal honey is not effective when applied under a bandage, for example.
How can you recognize the quality of honey?
Honey has been a highly valued food for thousands of years. Manuka honey is one of the most valuable honeys in the world – it is simply “more than honey”! The honey from New Zealand comes from the nectar of the flowers of the Manuka shrub, endemic to New Zealand.
Manuka honey is a tasty, earthy honey with unique properties. These can be tested in the laboratory and the results determine the value of the honey. One of the recognized methods of evaluating Manuka honey is to determine the ‘Unique Manuka Factor’ and certify it with UMF®.
This registered trademark is the official stamp on a honey that has been scientifically tested and appropriately evaluated. Those honey companies that use this rating system are official licensees of the UMF Honey Association, which has strict guidelines and audits its member companies.
The UMF® rating system assesses the important natural characteristics in Manuka Honey and ensures its purity and quality. www.umf.org.nz. Manuka Honey from Haddrell’s of Cambridge® is sourced from hives in New Zealand’s pristine natural environment.
Our experienced beekeepers harvest the honey at the end of the summer. The extracted honey is tested and certified using the UMF® recognized grading system. Our packaging facility for bottling this precious honey meets international food standards (SOF).
The history of Manuka honey
Manuka is a plant from the myrtle family and grows in New Zealand and parts of Australia. The botanical name is Leptospermum scoparium. Manuka comes in many shapes and sizes, from a low shrub to 8m high trees.
The botanical name Leptospermum is made up of ‘lepto’ = slender and ‘spermum’ – seed. There are 88 different varieties of Leptospermum. Manuka is the subspecies ‘scoparium’, which translates as broom.
Before the first people reached New Zealand, around the year 1000, 85 to 90% of the land was covered by tall, dense rainforest. Manuka only grew where the conditions were too unfavorable for forest, i.e. on very steep slopes, in swamps, in volcanic areas and in stony terrain.
The flora began to change as a result of volcanic eruptions that destroyed sections of forest and colonization from Polynesia. The Maori also had several other names for Manuka – e.g. Kahikatoa, Rauwiri or Pata.
When Captain Cook explored the coasts of New Zealand in 1769, he also found a use for manuka and also kanuka – he brewed tea from it and so the name ‘tea tree’, which is still in common use, was created.
This often leads to confusion with Australian tea tree oil, which is extracted from the Melaleuca alternifolia plant. The crew of the Endeavour also brewed Manuka beer, which, according to legend, didn’t taste bad at all.
The specialty of Manuka honey
Manuka honey is harvested by bees in New Zealand during the flowering period, which only lasts a few weeks. The amount harvested depends on the prevailing seasonal conditions of nature (mostly the weather) and therefore varies each year.
After many years of research, we now know that it is the naturally contained ingredient methylglyoxal (MGO) that characterizes Manuka honeys.
This ingredient, the MGO, only begins to mature when the bee deposits its honey in the comb. The respective strength and activity potential depends on the quality of the flower nectar processed by the bees.
Depending on the beekeeper’s experience and care, a Manuka honey can continue to ripen and thus gain in quality even after harvesting and extracting.
Regional differences
According to studies, there are regional differences in the content of methyglyoxal in different Manuka honeys. This is due to different subspecies of the Manuka shrub.
For example, L. scoparium var. incanum and L. scoparium var linifolium from the Northland and Waikato regions have high levels of methylglyoxal (hereafter referred to as MGO), whereas L. scoparium var.
myrtifolium from the East Coast of the North Island has comparatively low levels of MGO. The honey harvest from the South Island is rich in MGO. The MGO content is also influenced by mixing with other flower pollen.
Even in regions where mainly the Manuka bush grows, the honeybees find other flowers between the Manuka bushes, so that their pollen can also be detected in Manuka honey.
