9 Key Differences: Manuka Honey vs Regular Honey

At first glance, Manuka honey and regular honey might not seem all that different.

Both are made by honeybees. Both begin as flower nectar. Both contain naturally occurring sugars, enzymes and plant compounds. And, of course, both taste delicious.

But look a little closer and Manuka honey is quite different from your everyday jar of
honey.

From where the nectar comes from to its MGO content, texture, flavour, antibacterial activity and even the length of its flowering season, there’s a lot that sets genuine Manuka apart.

Here are nine key differences between Manuka honey and regular honey.

1.  It starts with a very particular flower

The first difference happens before the honey even exists.

Manuka honey is produced when bees forage predominantly on the flowers of the Manuka
plant, Leptospermum scoparium, a species native to Australia and New Zealand.

To be considered monofloral Manuka honey, the honey must predominantly come from
this floral source.

Other honeys can come from a single floral source too, such as clover, eucalyptus or
leatherwood, while multifloral honeys are produced when bees forage across a mixture of
flowering plants.

Here on King Island, our bees have access to extensive areas of naturally occurring wild
Manuka.

And when the Manuka bursts into flower, our bees get very busy indeed.

2. Manuka contains MGO

This is one of the biggest differences between Manuka and regular honey.
Manuka nectar naturally contains a compound called DHA, or dihydroxyacetone.

When bees collect this nectar and begin transforming it into honey, a fascinating chemical
process begins. Over time, DHA converts into MGO, or methylglyoxal.

MGO is one of the key compounds associated with Manuka honey’s distinctive antibacterial activity.

Importantly, this transformation doesn’t necessarily stop when the honey leaves the hive.
DHA can continue to gradually convert into MGO as Manuka honey matures.

The amount of DHA originally present in the nectar is also important. Generally, the greater the concentration of DHA, the greater the potential for the honey to develop higher levels of MGO.

It’s a remarkable natural process:  Manuka flower → DHA-rich nectar → bees → honey → MGO.

3. Its antibacterial activity works differently

Most honey has some natural antibacterial activity.

When bees transform nectar into honey, they add an enzyme called glucose oxidase.
When the finished honey later comes into contact with moisture, this enzyme helps produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, giving honey some of its natural antibacterial activity.

But this peroxide-based activity can be affected by factors such as heat, processing and
storage.

That’s why the way honey is handled after it leaves the hive is so important. Excessive
heating or pasteurisation can affect some of honey’s naturally occurring enzymes and
reduce this activity.

Manuka honey has something extra.

In addition to the properties naturally found in honey, Manuka contains MGO, providing an
additional and relatively stable source of antibacterial activity known as Non-Peroxide Activity, or NPA.

Put simply:

Regular honey gets much of its antibacterial activity from hydrogen peroxide. Manuka honey has this natural honey activity plus the additional antibacterial activity associated with MGO.

That’s one of the most important differences between the two.

4. Manuka has its own chemical fingerprint

MGO may be the best-known compound in Manuka honey, but it isn’t the whole story.
Scientists can also look for characteristic chemical markers associated with Leptospermum honey, including DHA and leptosperin.

Leptosperin is a naturally occurring compound derived from the nectar of Leptospermum
plants and can be useful when assessing the authenticity of Manuka honey.

Manuka honey also contains a complex mixture of naturally occurring phenolic and
aromatic compounds.

Researchers are continuing to investigate these compounds and the part they may play in
the distinctive characteristics of different Manuka honeys.

It’s another reason genuine Manuka is about much more than simply putting the word
“Manuka” on a label.

5. Manuka honey tastes different too

If you’re expecting Manuka to taste like a particularly sweet supermarket honey, you might be surprised by your first spoonful.

Manuka typically has a stronger, richer and more complex flavour than many lighter
honeys.

Depending on its origin and strength, you may notice earthy, herbal, slightly bitter or caramel-like notes alongside its sweetness.

And just as wine can reflect the environment in which its grapes are grown, honey can reflect its floral source and landscape.

Our King Island Manuka has its own distinctive flavour profile, shaped by the wild Manuka
and remarkable environment our bees call home.

6. Manuka looks and feels different

You can often spot another difference before you’ve even tasted it.

Manuka honey tends to have a thick, creamy and almost gel-like consistency rather than the highly fluid texture many people associate with regular honey.

It can also be darker and more opaque.

This unusual consistency is sometimes described as thixotropic, which simply means the
honey becomes more fluid when stirred and thickens again when left undisturbed.

So if your Manuka doesn’t pour like ordinary runny honey, that’s not necessarily a problem.

It’s part of its character.

7. Those numbers on the jar actually mean something

Most everyday honey is sold according to its floral variety, origin, flavour or colour.
Manuka introduces another consideration: measured MGO strength.

The MGO number tells you the minimum concentration of methylglyoxal in the honey,
measured in milligrams per kilogram.

For example:

MGO 94+ = at least 94 mg/kg of MGO

MGO 514+ = at least 514 mg/kg of MGO

MGO 829+ = at least 829 mg/kg of MGO

MGO 1200+ = at least 1200 mg/kg of MGO

As the number increases, so does the measured concentration of MGO.

At King Island Pure, our range extends from MGO 94+ through to MGO 1200+, giving you different strengths for different purposes.

Higher isn’t automatically better for everyone. The important thing is choosing an appropriate strength and knowing the number printed on the jar has been verified.

That’s why our Manuka honey is independently tested.

8. Manuka has attracted serious scientific and medical interest

Honey has a very long history of traditional use, but Manuka’s unusual chemistry has made it a particular focus of modern scientific research.

Researchers have investigated Manuka honey’s antibacterial properties and its potential
applications in areas such as wound care and microbial activity.

Specially prepared, sterilised and regulated medical-grade honey products are also used in some clinical wound-care applications.

There is, however, an important distinction.

A medical-grade Manuka wound product is not the same thing as an ordinary jar of
edible Manuka honey, and pantry honey shouldn’t be used as a substitute for an
appropriate medical product.

Research into Manuka continues, helping us better understand this remarkably complex
natural product and its potential applications.

9. There’s only a short window to make it

Genuine Manuka honey is a limited natural product.
The Manuka plant doesn’t flower all year. Its flowering season lasts only a relatively short
period, giving bees a limited opportunity to collect its nectar.

And plenty needs to go right during that window.

The weather needs to cooperate. The flowers need to produce nectar. The bees need to be healthy and active. And the hives need to be positioned where Manuka is the dominant
forage available.

Even then, every harvest is different.

The concentration of DHA in the nectar can vary, which in turn influences how much MGO
the resulting honey may eventually develop.

This is one of the reasons particularly high-MGO Manuka honey can be much scarcer than ordinary honey.

So, is Manuka really that different from regular honey?

Absolutely.

Regular honey is already a remarkable natural product, with its own naturally occurring
enzymes and antibacterial properties.

Manuka takes things a step further.

• It comes predominantly from Manuka flowers.
• Its nectar contains DHA, which gradually converts into MGO.
• MGO provides an additional and more stable source of antibacterial activity.
• It contains distinctive chemical markers including leptosperin.
• It has its own characteristic flavour and texture.
  
• Its MGO strength can be measured and independently tested; and
• It can only be produced during a relatively short Manuka flowering season.

For King Island Pure, there’s another important difference too: where our Manuka comes from.

Our bees forage amongst wild Manuka growing naturally on remote King Island, where
geographical isolation, clean air, pure rainfall and strict biosecurity create an extraordinary environment for producing Australian Manuka honey.

Because when it comes to producing exceptional Manuka honey, what’s inside the jar
matters.

But so does where it came from.

Pure Australian Manuka Honey. Wild. Remote. Remarkably Pure.

Learn about King Island's natural wonders in our recent Article.  Read

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