We hear about manuka honey more and more every day but lets not forget about the other honeys that come from the pristine countryside of New Zealand. We’ve already checked into clover honey, which is a great understudy for manuka and of course covered blue borage honey but we haven’t talked about Rewarewa honey. All these different types of honey have similar attributes, which help to fight bacterial infections and decrease inflammation. Manuka, blue borage, and clover have the advantage of both peroxide antibacterial activity and non-peroxide antibacterial activity. However, rewarewa has been found to have significant levels of peroxide antibacterial activity, which puts near the top of the list as an antibacterial option. In a survey on overall antibacterial activity of New Zealand honeys, rewarewa was found to have a higher overall antibacterial activity at 29.9% than manuka honey which ranked at only 15% antibacterial activity. Rewarewa was also found to have inhibit inflammation caused by superoxides. It ranked at the similar levels as kunuka and manuka honeys. Superoxide’s are created by oxidative stress and left uncontrolled cause inflammation in the body that results in numerous diseases. However, testing of all these honeys is till baffling scientists as they seek to confirm the properties that are making the honeys antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Rewarewa honey for example showed suppression of super oxide activity however it is believed to be because of its diacly compounds rather than it ability to scavenge super oxides or its phenol content, which is what was considered the prime cause of honeys antibacterial activity. So don’t just look at Manuka when deciding on a honey to buy but rather checkout the whole line of raw New Zealand honeys imported by Pacific Resources as it is clear they all contain properties which can help up with not only inflammation but also our antibacterial needs.

 SOURCES

Leong, A. G., Herst, P. M., & Harper, J. L. (2012). Indigenous New Zealand Honey exhibits multiple anti-inflammatory activites. Innate Immunity , 459-466.

Allen, K. L., Molan, P. C., & Reid, G. M. (1991). A Survey of the Antibacterial Activity of Some New Zealand Honey’s. Journal of Pharmacology , 817-822.

Wilkins, A. L., Lu, Y., & Tan, S.-T. (1995). Extractives from New Zeland Honey’s. 5. Aliphatic Dicarboxylic Acids in New Zealand Rewarewa (Knightea excelsa) Honey. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry , 3021-3025.