Honey Boosts Effectiveness of Traditional Medicine

Natural deep eutectic characteristics of honey improve the bioactivity and safety of traditional medicines

J Ethnopharmacol. 2019 Dec 11:112460

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:

Honey, an important additive with natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) characteristics, has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years.

AIM OF THE STUDY:

We investigated the quality-improving effects of honey on Astragali Radix (Mikvetch Root) (RA) as an example.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Decoctions of raw RA, fried RA, honey-fried RA, and a man-made- honey-fried RA were prepared and compared in cell-based bioactivity tests, chemical composition tests, as well as a bioavailability test with calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside.

RESULTS:

The addition of honey increased the concentrations of active compounds and their oral bioavailability, provided protection against acetylation, and consequently increased their bioactivity. These changes were also observed when a pure NADES-mimicking honey was used.

CONCLUSION:

Our findings provide a potential explanation as to why honey has long been used as traditional medicine additives and rationalize the application of honey and honey-like substance in producing pharmaceuticals.