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Review
. 2023 Jan 11;9(2):e12507.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12507. eCollection 2023 Feb.

A review on the phytochemical composition and health applications of honey

Gerard-William Zammit Young  1 , Renald Blundell  1   2
Affiliations
Review

A review on the phytochemical composition and health applications of honey

Gerard-William Zammit Young et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: Though honey has long been used as medicine, there is a scarcity of knowledge on how it interacts with the body.

Scope and approach: While different types of honey have different chemical and medicinal properties according to their origin, this narrative review seeks to analyse the current knowledge on the chemical composition and therapeutic use of honey. With numerous chemical components, honey has a range of health benefits in multiple disciplines of medicine, and provides an interesting prospect in chemical analysis with regards to identification of its origin.

Key findings and conclusions: There is a great potential for the use of honey in medicine, primarily due to its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Recent studies on the phenolic and enzymatic components of honey have made honey's therapeutic method of action in relation to the above properties clearer, still more research needs to be conducted and more innovations need to be tested, for the full potential of honey to be understood.

Keywords: Antioxidant; Honey; Medical grade honey; Modern medicine; Traditional medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
The effect of honey on the apoptotic pathway.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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