Friday, 4 July 2014, Press Release: Manuka Health NZ
Another leading food scientist has acknowledged that the
major antimicrobial compound in manuka honey is methylglyoxal.
In an article in the UK’s influential trade magazine The
Grocer, Dr David Hoyland, commercial director at Minerva Scientific – described
as “one of Europe’s leading scientific independent honey testing labs” –
acknowledged that “the major antimicrobial compound responsible for the
characteristic NPA [non-peroxide activity] in manuka honey has been identified
and is widely recognised as methylglyoxal.”
Dr Hoyland’s view complements and reinforces the research
findings of numerous food scientists.
The methylglyoxal compound naturally occurring in manuka
honey was identified in 2006 by a Technical University of Dresden group led by
Professor Thomas Henle.
Professor Henle, a Professor of Food Chemistry, has been
Chairman of Germany’s Federal Food Chemical Society and Editor-in-Chief of the
scientific journal European Food Research & Technology.
His findings were published in the Journal of Molecular
Nutrition and Food Research in January 2008.
His research has been verified by other prominent food
chemists, including Professor Peter Molan of the University of Waikato. See
Professor Molan’s views here.
Manuka Health Chief Executive Kerry Paul said it was good to
see methylglyoxal recognised by yet another eminent food scientist in a
publication influential in the UK, an important market for New Zealand manuka
honey producers.
“There are a couple of assertions in the article that I
would dispute.
“The first is that methylglyoxal can be found in other plant
species. It cannot, in any significant quantity. Generally, if methylglyoxal is
detected in the honey which derives from bees which have harvested the nectar
of plants other than manuka, that means only that there has been an overlap in
flowering between neighbouring plants…
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