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The Bee Society presents Monofloral Manuka Honey. This means the nectar is sourced wholly or predominantly from the Manuka plant alone.
This Manuka Honey has a 100+ MGO rating and is available as 250g and 500g.
Manuka Honey has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties that add to its benefits, some of which include:
- Improve oral health: Reducing bacteria that cause plaque and gingivitis.
- Improve gut health: Reduce harmful bacteria in the gut that causes issues like stomach ulcers.
- Reduce sore throats and coughs.
What is MGO?
Mānuka honey is special due to its medicinal and antibacterial properties. One of the reasons for such qualities is the presence of methylglyoxal (this is where the MGO abbreviation comes from) in its content. It’s a chemical compound that causes an antiseptic effect. The concentration of MGO in this kind of honey is 100-fold higher than in others. But it’s still not the same everywhere. The difference mainly comes from the flowers that produce nectar. If bees gathered it only from Mānuka trees, the MGO rating will be higher. In case other flowers were used, honey's potency will be affected. To find out how potent Mānuka honey is, each batch of our Mānuka gets tested and these properties are marked on a tag. The ratings are based on the concentration of methylglyoxal (MGO) in Mānuka honey.
Mānuka honey can have MGO levels up to 100 times that found in other raw honeys. The amount of MGO has become an important way to rate the purity and strength of Mānuka.
Properties of MGO
Many kinds of honey are thought to have antibacterial properties because they contain hydrogen peroxide. However, in contact with a wound, this breaks down to oxygen and water. Luckily, Mānuka honey is an exception: it still has antibacterial properties even after hydrogen peroxide disappears. This quality is called non-peroxide activity (NPA). It's possible due to MGO - a compound that results from dihydroxyacetone conversion, which is contained in the Mānuka flowers' nectar and can kill pathogenic bacteria.
How are MGO ratings generated?
In most cases, the concentration of methylglyoxal in Mānuka honey is different to what it ends up at the time of bottling. This is because its levels increase during storage. Usually, the greatest rate of MGO growth happens when the temperature is around 22°C. The presence of dihydroxyacetone (DHA) in Mānuka nectar is a major factor that influences this rating. Other factors include the extent of Mānuka blooming and how well bees gather nectar from these flowers.
The rating is the content of dihydroxyacetone (DHA) in Mānuka nectar, which is the base for methylglyoxal creation. Another factor is the extent of Mānuka bloom and another important thing is the behaviour of bees. MGO ratings that you see on labels mean how much methylglyoxal is present in 1 kg of the product. For example, a rating of 550+ means there are 550 mg of it in 1 kg of honey. It’s found by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), a process that separates complex mixtures into elementary compounds.