了解MGO及UMF
虽然有些麦卢卡蜂蜜品牌以UMF标注其蜂蜜，但我们更愿意展现我们麦卢卡蜂蜜的MGO水平。以下是两者之间的区别，以及为什么我们偏爱MGO。
UMF表示“独特麦卢卡因子”
该术语最初是由怀卡托大学的彼得 · 莫兰教授所创造的。莫兰教授是最早意识到麦卢卡蜂蜜的抗菌特性并非是由简单的过氧化物造成的科学家之一。他的研究证明了，即使麦卢卡蜂蜜中没有过氧化氢的存在，它依旧具有抗菌特性。莫兰教授无法解释麦卢卡蜂蜜独特功效背后的原因，但是他注意到一些麦卢卡蜂蜜的抗菌性比其他麦卢卡蜂蜜更强。为了区分其强度，莫兰教授提出了"独特麦卢卡因子"这一概念，简称为UMF。
UMF并不是一个直观的测量方式。因为它本身并不直接对任何化学成分进行衡量，一定程度上来说并不是科学的标识方法。而MGO要精确得多。
MGO与UMF对比
以下表格显示了MGO与UMF的对应关系
MGO表示“甲基乙二醛”
15多年来，科学家们一直试图发现促使麦卢卡蜂蜜具有稳定抗菌活性的化合物。德累斯顿工业大学的亨勒教授发现了甲基乙二醛，使麦卢卡蜂蜜在医学和科学界获得了可信度。这一发现是麦卢卡蜂蜜在全球销售迅速增长的催化剂。在产品标签上标明甲基乙二醛（MGO）的浓度，例如MGO400，意味着消费者第一次可以有信心地选择产品。
甲基乙二醛（MGO）是一个直接的、具体的测量标准。长期以来，医学界和科学界都很熟悉甲基乙二醛。它是一种有机化学物，具有公认的生物活性。更妙的是，它可以被直接测量。
在Helena Health我们精确测量MGO的浓度。而测量结果直观显示了每批蜂蜜中MGO的含量。
The History of Manuka Honey
New Zealand has been covered in the manuka bush for millions of years. Today large areas of manuka bush remain in areas remote from urbanization. Europeans in the early 1800’s brought the Italian honey bee which stores honey in colonies started the honey industry in New Zealand.
Bee-keepers in the 1800’s right up to 1990 targeted honeys they could sell on the local market and would give the manuka honey away free to dairy farmers simply to dispose of it. Farmers would feed manuka honey to their cows who enjoyed it as feed source. Overtime farmers came to realise the cows who ate the honey did not suffer the diseases suffered by other cows. This was the first time people realized there was something special about this manuka honey but they were not able to offer any explanation for why.
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Professor Peter Molan
Professor Molan was the first scientist to investigate the reasons why there were health benefits
occurring through use of manuka honey. All honey is anti-bacterial due to bees adding the glucose oxidase enzyme to produce hydrogen peroxide. However, this effect is quickly eliminated. Professor Molan established manuka honey had stable anti-bacterial effects i.e. non-peroxide activity (NPA). This was the basis by which he led the early development of the manuka honey industry.
How UMF was established
Professor Peter Molan came to the University of Waikato from Wales. He heard the local stories about the benefits of manuka honey which intrigued his interest to find out why. He adapted the agar diffusion assay to identify the zone of bacterial inhibition for a honey sample. This is how he developed numbers 5, 10 etc to identify the size of the zone. When he eliminated hydrogen peroxide from a honey samplehe found honeys still produced a zone of inhibition which he called non-peroxide activity (NPA).
The method is subjective, does not produce repeatable results and was never recognized by the
scientific community. Nevertheless, this was a starting point to promote manuka honey as having
something “extra” and Peter Molan played an extremely important role in creating the awareness
particularly in his home country the United Kingdom.
Professor Thomas Henle
Professor Thomas Henle discovered methylglyoxal in manuka honey and by doing so gave credibility to the health benefits of the honey. This was the breakthrough moment for the manuka industry. The numbers of peer reviewed scientific publications showing the benefits of methylglyoxal also increased rapidly.
Kerry Paul (managing directory of Helena Health) worked with Professor Henle for
many years to investigate all aspects of manuka honey’s properties.
How MGO was established
Professor Henle is an international expert in food glycation compounds giving him all the capabilities needed to identify what compound(s) were responsible for the non-peroxide activity. He analysed 80 honey samples, 4 were manuka, over 10 glycation compounds. The surprise discovery was the 4 manuka honeys had high levels of methylglyoxal when the other 76 honeys had virtually zero. This was also notable by the fact he had seen methylglyoxal levels in any other foods anywhere near these levels. As a next step he proved the methylglyoxal was responsible for the non-peroxide activity using the same approach as Peter Molan.
Consumers for the first time could understand a rating system on manuka honey.
Why MGO Manuka Honey is a Superior Rating System
The discovery of methylglyoxal by Professor Henle allowed the development of a rating system proven by science. Methylglyoxal is directly and exclusively responsible for the unique anti-bacterial activity of manuka honey. The rating system must be based on methylglyoxal because it is the value- adding compound. This is why in 2008 Kerry Paul (Managing Director of Helena Health) launched the MGO Manuka Honey rating system.
Scientific evidence must be shown to demonstrate any natural health product will have benefit for a person’s health and well-being - this develops the trust by consumers in your product. Identifying the bioactive compound responsible for the stable anti-bacterial activity in manuka honey and its concentration was fundamental to gaining consumer acceptance of the product.
It was important to label the product with the methylglyoxal concentration and not claim any activity. Making this clear on the label is a basic requirement for consumers.
The testing method is published and validated and can be carried out by any laboratory.
