Health benefits of Manuka honey

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If you are one of those intensely passionates about nature and life, use to visit from time to time herbal shops and have a look to herbal news sites, you may have heard about a very special honey type, the Manuka honey, which prices reache 2'5 times the prices of other regular honeys available in the market and has been claimed to exert many health benefits and properties. But what makes Manuka honey so special?

Manuka honey gets its name from the tree from which is being produced, the Leptospermum scoparium, Manuka tree, tea tree or simply Leptospermum, a shrub native to New Zealand [7]. Manuka flowers have been used by honey bees in New Zealand to produce one of the most famous and expensive honeys of the world, Manuka honey.

The high demand on the market caused by claims that recent scientific studies and clinical trials made on the properties of Manuka honey, ranging from its anti-Helicobacter pylori properties to its antibacterial, anti-plaque, anti-gingivitis, burn healing and skin protecting effects, and even some suggesting it may help to against certain types of cancer, entailed a price increase that may or may not be justified,  let's have a look at that. Image: Manuka flower by John Tann under CC license (CC by 2.0).

LEPTOSPERMUM SCOPARIUM

Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Leptospermum
Common name: Manuka tree, tea tree, Leptospermum, Jelly bush.