Exploitation of bee honey health-related properties in human nutrition

Abstract

The application of bee honey in human nutrition is among the earliest branches of medicine. Bee honey constitutes a natural source of ingredients that exhibit beneficial effects on the human body. Owing to its high content of components supporting human health, honey is considered a ‘cure-all’. Pure honey exerts a particularly strong therapeutic influence. Honey is produced by bees from flower nectar or honeydew. Floral or nectar honeys are named after the particular plants; examples include rapeseed honey. A particular type is honeydew honey, obtained from the so-called honeydew, i.e. plant secretions produced in sites damaged by aphids. The main ingredients of honey are carbohydrates, i.e. glucose (30%–39%) and fructose (33%–43%), and active substances, which include enzymes, predominantly coming from the secretions of bee throat and salivary glands. Honeys popular in Poland: rapeseed honey, linden honey, buckwheat honey, acacia honey, heather honey, multifloral honey. The health-related properties of honey are significant in medicine: honey consumption helps counteract pathogenic microorganisms that attack the human body. The aim of this article is to present the most significant health-related properties of bee honey exploited in human nutrition.