最近新迷上的东西就是产自纽西兰的Manuka Honey

为什么呢? 因为一天到晚喉咙痛 与 肠胃不适的问题已经困扰我超过二十多年

喉咙的问题是来自先天性扁桃腺肥大症, 肠胃不适也是来自家族遗传

老是靠西药压抑也不适办法, 所以平常就爱研究东研究西看怎样用最自然的方式改善

 

Manuka honey 依 UMF or MGO 来分抗菌性的等级

http://www.3phk.com/v5article.asp?id=1957&section=healthinfo

 

评级制度
　　由于麦芦卡蜂蜜可应用于促进伤口愈合、胃溃疡、皮肤问题等多方面，这种特殊用途，使它有别于一般蜂蜜。而同样是麦芦卡蜂蜜，却会因为某种天然成分的多寡，令疗效有所不同。有见及此，市场便因应麦芦卡蜂蜜的功能及强度而分类，帮助消费者选择。

 

UMF
　　第一个麦芦卡蜂蜜评级方式是由新西兰怀卡托大学（University of Waikato）教授Peter Molan在大约十年前提出。由于当时未能确定麦芦卡蜂蜜中抗菌物质的主要成分，故此Molan教授以Unique Manuka Factor（UMF）为这种蜂蜜的成分命名，再给予一个数值来显示抗菌能力的高低，相当于抗菌活性单位。

 

如何得出UMF数值？
　　因为UMF评级方式是在比较抗菌效能的基础上，所以参考了抗生素实验的试验方法。首先，将麦芦卡蜂蜜加入培植了细菌的洋菜胶（Agar Gel）中，滴进麦芦卡蜂蜜的地方因为其抗菌功效令细菌无法生长，洋菜胶就会出现一个透明的无菌环。麦芦卡蜂蜜的抗菌强度愈高，无菌环范围会愈大。另外，洋菜胶又会加入5％、10％不同浓度的酚溶液（Phenol Solution）作对照，假设受测试的麦芦卡蜂蜜所产生的无菌环范围与由10％酚溶液产生的相若，麦芦卡蜂蜜就会被定义为UMF10。

 

UMF的贡献
　　UMF评级方式的出现，将麦芦卡蜂蜜明显分类，并提供不同强度和应用功效予消费者参考，而活性麦芦卡蜂蜜学会（Active Manuka Honey Association，AMHA）的成立，加速了大众对麦芦卡蜂蜜功效的认识。目前，所有印上UMF分级的麦芦卡蜂蜜都必须经过AMHA认证。

MGO
　　2008年7月，德国食品科学界权威Thomas Henle教授（现任德国Technical University of Dresden食品科学系所主管，发表论文超过80篇）全面研究不同抗菌效能的麦芦卡蜂蜜，在研究当中发现一种天然物质甲基乙二酸（Methylglyoxal，MGO），不但具有对抗大肠杆菌及葡萄球菌能力，更可加快伤口复原、增强抵抗力，及后更发现能抑制胃部幽门螺旋杆菌的活性，从而改善胃溃疡情况，证实是十多年来，世界各地科学家一直在寻找的麦芦卡蜂蜜抗菌成分的真身。

MGO浓度评级方式
　　Thomas Henle教授的研究指出，Methylglyoxal（MGO）的浓度愈高，麦芦卡蜂蜜的抗菌功效亦愈高。天然麦芦卡蜂蜜的MGO含量由20mg/kg到 800mg/kg，而其他蜂蜜亦含有约20mg/kg。MGO的评级方式是直接以浓度显示抗菌功效，当麦芦卡蜂蜜含超过100mg/kg的MGO，就会以MGO100+标示，超过400mg/kg便以MGO400+代表。

 

 

UMF及MGO分级方式 

 

抗菌强度	UMF	MGO
低	UMF5+	MGO30+
中低	UMF10+	MGO100+
中	UMF16+	MGO250+
中高	UMF20+	MGO400+
高	UMF25+	MGO550+

 

 

http://www.aliveplushoney.com/amh-umf-and-mgo-rating-explained.php

 

Updated 15 May, 2013 by Aliveplushoney

 

If you have been trying to assess the strength of Manuka Honey products, you may have noticed two different labels on the honey containers. One being UMF, the other MGO.

UMF is an internationally registered trademark that can be used only by licensed users who meet set criteria which include auditing and monitoring to ensure the product is natural, unadulterated, Manuka honey that has the unique non-peroxide antibacterial activity and is true-to-label claim.

Many different Manuka Honey producers use this system.

MGO ratings refer to the level of Methyglyoxal in the honey. Methyglyoxal is a marker of Manuka honey but it does not cause the non-peroxide activity. MGO™ is a trademark of Manuka Health New Zealand Ltd, and you will only see MGO labels on their own products.

All types of honey have a very mild antiseptic property because they contain hydrogen peroxide. It is only Manuka Honey that has the additional and more powerful antibacterial property.

Here is a quick outline of both UMF and MGO plus a summary:

placement of hives and the timing of the harvest crucial. If done correctly, the Methylglyoxal present in the Manuka honey will be much higher.

 

UMF is more established and widely used and it stands for 'Unique Manuka Factor'.

After Dr. Peter Molan, a Senior Lecturer at the Waikato University in New Zealand, discovered the additional antibacterial property in Manuka Honey, the UMF rating system was developed to measure the activity level of Manuka Honeys.

Rather than measuring the methylglyoxal content like the MGO methodology, the UMF rating actually tests the antibacterial performance of a honey and compares it to phenol, a disinfectant. The Active Manuka Honey Association(AMHA) that does the testing states:

"The presence of the special non-peroxide activity can be detected only by an array of scientific testing directly relating to the phenol standard. The rating has a one-to-one relationship to the phenol standard. "

This means that a UMF rating of 20+ is equivalent in strength to a 20% solution of phenol. Manuka Honey is independently tested in an accredited laboratory for its antibacterial UMF®. All Manuka Honey that has a UMF rating of more than 10 is highly active honey and therefore known as Active Manuka Honey. The ideal UMF rating varies depending on your purpose, but laboratory studies have shown that manuka honey with a non-peroxide activity level of UMF®12 to UMF®15 is effective against a wide range of very resistant bacteria.

The discovery of the active ingredient "Methylglyoxal" in Manuka Honey was made by Professor Thomas Henle from the Institute of Food Chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden in Germany. Manuka Health state that the higher the MGO™ rating in Manuka honey the higher the level of anti-bacterial activity in the honey.

Methylglyoxal is a compound found in the pollen of the Manuka tree's flowers. This tree, a New Zealand native has a short flowering period which makes the