John Myers
A beekeeper explained to me that forest honey contains pantotin, a natural antibiotic. Does this statement need correction?
Honey has been of great importance in folk medicine for a long time. Honey is said to have anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and anti-allergic effects. However, we are not aware of pantotin as a natural antibiotic in honey.
Nevertheless, the use of honey in alternative medicine is popular. A common area of application for honey is wound care. Honey poultices were used for skin injuries as early as World War I and World War II because of their antimicrobial properties. The emerging antibiotics pushed home remedies aside. But today’s problem of antibiotic-resistant germs makes honey interesting again as an alternative remedy for wound care, since it is even effective against multi-resistant germs such as the so-called MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
However, medical wound honey is used today for wound care and not conventional table honey. Surgical honey is specially produced for therapeutic purposes and is approved as a medicinal product. It consists of two different types of honey, which undergo special processing and controls and have been sterilized with gamma rays.
The enzyme glucose oxidase added by the bees continuously produces small amounts of antiseptic hydrogen peroxide from the sugar in the honey.
The medicinal honey also contains e.g. Australian or New Zealand manuka or tea tree honey, which has a particularly strong antibacterial and antifungal effect.
The antimicrobial effect is supported by the natural sugars contained in honey, as these attract water and thus deprive bacteria of their livelihood, for example.
The medical effect of wound honey can certainly be surpassed to normal table honey in parts. For example, the enzyme glucose oxidase is found in all types of honey. But the corresponding effects of honey are significantly weaker.
We like to use honey for coughs and hoarseness. There are no scientific studies on the effect. Still, the World Health Organization lists honey as a potential remedy for children with coughs and sore throats.
Depending on the honey plant, the composition of the honey differs from beekeeper to beekeeper. Forest honey is not just forest honey either. We have no reliable information on whether and how many active substances are contained in table honey.
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