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UMF® is a highly
beneficial antibacterial property naturally present in some
strains of manuka honey. Studies are showing manuka honey with
a high levels of UMF®(UMF®10 or higher) deals with bacterial infection
and helps the natural healing processes and is the preferred
honey when selecting honey for its healing qualities.
In his paper, The Unique Properties of Manuka Honey, Dr Peter
Molan describes the following unique features which make UMF®
Manuka Honey a very special honey. The name UMF® Manuka Honey
indicates the type of manuka honey which has high levels of
the UMF® healing property.
More powerfully
antibacterial.
• Laboratory
studies have found the UMF® antibacterial property to be more
effective in vitro than the hydrogen
peroxide antibacterial property against some types of very
resistant bacteria:
• Twice as effective
as other honey against staphylococcus aureus and eschericihia
coli, the most common cause of infected
wounds.
• Eight times
as effective against helicobacter pylori, the bacteria which
causes most stomach ulcers.
• Significantly
more effective than other honey against streptococcus pyogenes
which causes sore throats
Double antibacterial
potency.
• UMF®
Manuka Honey has both the hydrogen peroxide and the UMF® antibacterial
properties making it doubly potent.
There is evidence that these two antibacterial
components together(hydrogen peroxide and UMF®) may
have a synergistic action - their combined effect is greater
than the sum of the parts - making manuka
honey which has the UMF® property doubly potent and effective.
No bacteria
has been found, in the laboratory, to be resistant to the UMF®
activity
More stable
• The
UMF® property is very stable and not easily destroyed.
It is resistant to heat and more resistant
to being broken down by the catalase effect of body fluids
than the hydrogen peroxide activity.
The hydrogen peroxide property is easily destroyed
by heat, fluid and sunlight. If a honey without UMF®
was to be used to treat an infection, the potency of the honey's
antibacterial activity would most likely be
reduced because the body tissues and serum contain an enzyme
catalase which breaks down hydrogen peroxide.
UMF® is stable and not affected.
Can diffuse deeply into skin tissues, so
that it can reach deep-seated infections
• The UMF® antibacterial
property can penetrate flesh much more deeply than the hydrogen
peroxide property - it has been found to be
able to penetrate 1cm of pork skin, fat and muscle overnight.
The hydrogen peroxide property does not penetrate
tissues.
Not
Reliant on Moisture
• To activate hydrogen
peroxide moisture is required, but too much moisture also destroys
it, and the moisture reduces the concentration
of the honey
The UMF® does not need moisture to activate
it, yet it is also quite stable in moisture such as body fluids.
Honey
is acidic
• The pH of honey
is low enough to slow down or prevent the growth of many species
of bacteria.
But this acidity may be neutralised if honey
is diluted with body fluids. UMF® is stable in moisture.
Not
Reliant on Oxygen
• The glucose oxidase
enzyme which produces hydrogen peroxide needs oxygen, but the
phytochemical UMF® does not.
So it could remain active even when smothered
by wound dressings or in wound cavities. |
