QEPD Peter Molan

Leo que el primero de octubre murió a los 71 años el Dr. Peter Molan, genio bioquímico detrás del milagro de la miel de manuka ¿qué significará para el mercado de esa miel?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/72551435/manuka-expert-peter-molan-dies

Active Jelly Bush

Una nueva miel medicinal sale al ruedo.

Una nueva miel quiere ganarle a la manuka.

Catch the Buzz nos informa ...

Look Out Manuka…Myrtle’s On The Way

Alan Harman

Honey from an Australian native myrtle tree has the most powerful anti-bacterial properties of any honey in the world and could be used to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections that commonly occur in hospitals and nursing homes.

Brisbane-based researchers say myrtle honey has very high levels of the anti-bacterial compound, Methylglyoxal (MGO), and outperforms all medicinal honeys available on the market, including New Zealand’s manuka honeys.

Led by the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), a partnership between the University of Queensland and the Queensland government's Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI), the research is being carried out in conjunction with the Australian Organic Honey Co. and Medi Bioactive Australia.

The project involves comprehensive trials with honey harvested from a native species of myrtle (leptospermum polygalifolium), which is distributed along the Australian eastern seaboard from the south coast of New South Wales to Cape York, Queensland.

Australian Organic Honey Co. and Medi Bioactive Australia chief executive Carolyn MacGill says the findings show anti-bacterial potency levels that could allow for the development of highly effective anti-bacterial treatments.

“We have had MGO readings in excess of 1,750 mg/kg in certain batches of honey,” MacGill says. “This would make this range of honeys one of the most potent in the world.”

Honeys investigated by the research group were effective as anti-bacterial treatments when used in the range of 500 – 1,750 mg/kg MGO to prevent the growth of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common bacterial infection in hospitals and community facilities where residents are immune challenged, such as nursing homes.

Chief researcher on the project, QAAFI scientist Yasmina Sultanbawa says the potency of the honeys mean only a small amount is required to fight infection.

“The sheer strength, due to high levels of active compounds in these honeys, has meant that we have been able to completely inhibit MRSA for example in in-vitro studies with a relatively small quantity of the honey,” Sultanbawa says,

“This means potential products could maintain significant levels of anti-bacterial activity even in surface wounds where the honey is diluted in the bed of the infection.

“Investigations into unconventional remedies that are non-toxic and unlikely to result in resistance to the treatment, such as the QAAFI research into bioactive honeys, is very promising.”

MacGill says the potential of the honeys could ultimately result in a range of highly sought-after products.

“Our research to date has produced overwhelming results in the quest to inhibit the very common infection MRSA at very low percentage rates of application,” she says.

“This could provide enormous benefits for Australian and international medical fraternities and their patients.”

NZ también mala temporada

Para los colegas Neozelandeses de Malborough, esta también será una mala temporada.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/rural/4674271/Rain-puts-paid-to-honey-production

Rain puts paid to honey production

A flying start to the honey season came to a "screeching halt" after a post-Christmas storm, with production potentially plummeting by up to 60 per cent this season, beekeepers say.

Marlborough Beekeepers' Association president James Jenkins, of Blenheim, said the season started late last year with a "hiss and a roar".

"There was a great flow on honey coming into the hives with the kamahi but then we had the rain on December 28 and it came to a screeching halt. We never really got going again."

Very little of the high-end manuka honey was coming in and overall honey production would likely be cut by at least half, Mr Jenkins said.

That put the season firmly in the below average category, the Marlborough Gold Honey owner said.

Gondwana y los Primos del Ulmo

Me encontré en Flickr con una interesante presentación respecto a la flora de Gondwana, o de cuando los del hemisferio sur estabamos pegados y eramos una sola tierra.

Son varios los primos del Ulmo al otro lado del pacifico, y lo más sorprendente es que cada día los botánicos encuentran más familiares suyos.

Veanlo uds. mismos aquí



Bueno también hay otras similitudes (los nothofagus por ejemplo), lo que me hace preguntarme por la famosa Manuka.

Habrán Manukas en Chile?

Sus mieles serán activas?

Ulmo 90

Finalmente ha salido publicado el estudio irlandes que compara el Ulmo chileno y la Manuka neozelandeza, con un desafio antimicrobial con bacterias resistentes al methicillin, la conclusión es que el Ulmo sería más efectivo que la Manuka en el control de Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli y Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Conclusion
From the results contained in this report we conclude that, due to its high antimicrobial activity, Ulmo 90 may warrant further investigation into its use as a possible alternative therapy for wound healing.


Pero lo bonito no esta ahí. Lo bonito está en lo relativo y en lo cosmético.

La miel de manuka se clasifica de acuerdo al factor UMF. La manuka utilizada en el estudio era de mediana concentración con +25.

El Ulmo no está sujeto a esta clasificación ya que no contiene el UMF, que de acuerdo a la información publicada sería methylglyoxal, no obstante la controversia y desvinculación del Dr. Molan con el UMF/MGO.

Me imagino a nivel cosmético señalan los doctores irlandeses al Ulmo como 90. Lo primero que viene a la mente es que ambos, el +25 y el 90, serían unidades de la misma escala.

Asi no sería de extrañar que el 90 le gane al +25, por un factor de cerca de 4.

El 90 del Ulmo proviene del estudio polínico realizado por la PUC, indicando que al menos el 90% del polen que contenía la muestra analizada era de Eucriptia cordifolia (Ulmo).

También por "acto de fé", asignamos la misma distribución a la composición de la miel. 90% sería néctar de Ulmo.

En el caso de la manuka el MGO aumenta con el tiempo.

Discussion
The in vitro antibacterial activity of Ulmo 90 and manuka honey was evaluated
and compared. Data obtained from the agar diffusion and spectrometric assays has
demonstrated, for the first time, that Ulmo 90 honey exhibits a stronger peroxide
attributable antimicrobial effect against five out of seven bacterial isolates tested
compared with manuka honey. Using the agar diffusion method, on average, Ulmo honey
displayed larger zones of inhibition against all MRSA strains. However, in some cases,
large standard deviations were observed (Table 1). This may be accounted for by the
method used to inoculate the bacteria on to the surface of the agar. Although this method
has been used in previous studies [10], a more precise method may be to seed the agar
with the test organism as described by Allen et al. (1991) [12].


A lower MIC was observed for Ulmo 90 honey (3.1% - 6.3% v/v) in comparison
to manuka (12.5% v/v) for all five MRSA strains. Although this difference, which is one
dilution, may not be significant. A previous report [13], showed that the MBC from
Medihoney (contains manuka honey) against MRSA was 3% while ours was 3.1% v/v for
Ulmo 90 for 3 of the 5 strains and 6.3% v/v for the other two. That previous report [13] proposed that there are differences in the susceptibility of strains of the same species,
which we have confirmed for MRSA isolates. The MIC values for manuka honey may
seem high (12.5%), especially when compared to Patton et al. (2006) [10], where the same spectrophotometric assay was used. That study used a less potent manuka honey
(UMF 18+) with a resulting MIC of 6.25% v/v. However, the differences observed
between that study and the current study may explain this anomaly, e.g. a different strain
of S. aureus was used in that study.

The removal of hydrogen peroxide activity from Ulmo 90 was shown to have
reduced its antimicrobial activity. A 25% v/v solution of the Ulmo 90 had no detectable
antibacterial activity when tested in the presence of catalase, where previously a 3.1% v/v
solution of Ulmo honey was both the MIC and MBC for MRSA strain 0791. This would
suggest that bacterial inhibition in the previous experiments was mainly due to hydrogen
peroxide generation. Although some activity was observed in Ulmo 90 at 50% v/v
concentration, the same activity was seen in the laboratory synthesised honey, which may
indicate that activity at this concentration may be due to other factors such as osmotic
pressure or high sugar content. In contrast, while the MIC and MBC was affected, a 25%
v/v solution of manuka displayed antibacterial activity in the presence of catalase i.e. this
was the dilution at which both MIC and MBC was observed on the removal of peroxide
activity. This finding was expected for manuka as it has been previously shown that its
antibacterial activity is attributed to non-peroxide components such as MGO [12]. As
catalase is present in body tissues, this may have an effect on the in vivo activity of
hydrogen peroxide-dependent honeys. However the extent of this effect is not known.
Similar to other studies, this paper presents the findings of in vitro antibacterial
activity of a honey against planktonic bacteria and therefore results cannot be
extrapolated to the chronic wound environment. The chronic wound harbours up to four
different wound pathogens [14] and indeed the presence of bacterial wound biofilms compound the difficulties in understanding and managing such an environment [13].

Within the biofilm, the characteristics of the bacteria change, so that biofilm-embedded
bacteria are up to 1000 times more resistant to antibiotics than the ‘planktonic’ bacteria
that are used to test antibiotic sensitivity [15]. The antibacterial nature of honey is
dependent on various factors working either singularly or synergistically, the most salient
of which are; hydrogen peroxide (produced by the glucose oxidase added to honey by
bees), phenolic compounds, wound pH, pH of honey; osmotic pressure exerted by the
honey, cleansing of the wound bed by the honey, level of exudate and the frequency of
application. The degree to which any one of these contribute to in vivo antimicrobial
efficacy has yet to be determined. However, a recent study examining the antimicrobial
properties of honey in vitro found that hydrogen peroxide, MGO and an antimicrobial
peptide, bee defensin-1, were distinct mechanisms involved in the bactericidal activity of
honey [16]. In addition to its antimicrobial properties, the effects of honey on host cells
may also play an important role in wound healing [17, 18]. Therefore to focus solely on
peroxide in honey limits our understanding of how honey may contribute to managing the
bacterial wound bioburden.