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Since 1981, Dr Peter Molan MBE, Associate Professor in Biochemistry at The University of Waikato, New Zealand, has been researching the various healing properties of honey sourced from different plants in New Zealand.
Most forms of honey have antibacterial properties due to the glucose oxidase enzyme contained in the honey, which when it cones into contact with body tissue releases hydrogen peroxide, which in turn acts against bacteria which may be present.
When studying honey from the New Zealand Manuka shrub (Leptospermum scoparium), Dr Molan discovered that the honey from this plant contained a second antibacterial component in addition to the glucose oxidase enzyme.
This component appears to be unique to the Manuka plant and it is also strongly anti-bacterial, even against highly resistant forms of bacteria such as the H bug staphylococcus aureus and helicobacter pylori.
The actvity of Manuka honey can be laboratory tested and an activity of 15+ is deemed Medical Grade, and appropriate to be used for wound dressings. (Some honeys are no more antibacterial than sugar, while others can be diluted more than 100-fold and still halt the growth of bacteria.)
Beekeeping in this area is an eco-farming system, which means that honey production in the East Cape valleys is a way to let the native bush regenerate and help decrease the massive erosion taking place there.
So don't forget, when you eat Wilde Honey, it is not only deliciously good for you, but you are saving our forests and river valleys.
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Get Active, Get Healthy..... Eat Wilde Honey!
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