Research Directions

As active manuka honey continues to grow as an accepted natural health product, it is important to move beyond the 'black box" description of its activity and into the molecular elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the health effects of the product. Furthermore, there are currently no accepted assays to quantify the anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties of manuka honey, although these two effects have been documented. As the term "unique manuka factor" indicates, the molecular nature of the active ingredient(s) remains unknown. Methylglyoxal is known to be partly responsible for the activity, but it is also clear that it is not acting by itself but as part of a synergistic complex. Elucidating the nature of the active manuka activity would have a major impact on testing and new product development. For testing, it will make it possible to develop surrogate assays that measure activity by physical rather than biological means. Physical measurements are known to have significantly less variability than biological assays, and are also faster and less expensive to operate. Finally, this characterization may allow for the development of new concentrated products derived from active manuka honey and that could be delivered by oral, topical or injectable routes like a regular drug.