A Review on Honey Contemplating Ayurvedic Emphasis Viz-A-Viz Source and Availability

Introduction

Honey is a natural flavoring substance which is produced by honeybees by collecting nectar from flowers and subjecting it to enzymatic activity in their saliva.¹ It is in use for ages in various civilizations all over the world for its cultural, medicinal and economic significance. Apiculture is the science of beekeeping. The promotion of apiculture has led to the recognition of honeybees involved in producing different types of honey. Ayurvedic classics mention different types of honey based on its properties and appearance. Currently, many more types of honey are being produced for their distinct medicinal qualities.

Materials and Methods

Ayurvedic literature was searched from Brihattrayi viz., Charak Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Ashthanga Hrdaya and Nighantus like Bhavaprakasha Nighantu,Madanapala Nighantu, Raja Nighantu, Dhanvantari Nighantu and Kaiyadeva Nighantu methodically and compared with the current trends in honey types from various research articles in PubMed and government apiculture database to arrive at collations and conclusions.

Results

Review of Literature

Madhu

The earliest references of Madhu or honey in India traces back to the Vedic period where Madhu was the only natural sweetening agent, stated in the Vedas and Upanishads which date back to about 1200 BC. The Ṛigveda has mentioned about Madhu for about 300 times.² In Āyurveda, Madhu is described as the substance produced by Makṣhikā by consuming puṣpāsava or nectar.³ Āyurveda has extensively advocated the use of honey in various disease states associated with kapha doṣa and médo dhātu. Acharyas have described Madhu as being Yogavāhi, which means it potentiates the quality of the drug it is combined with due to its versatility.⁴

Classification⁴

• Based on the age of honey: Nava- newly collected [Madhura (sweet), guru (heavy), abhiṣyandi (increases secretions)]; Purāṇa- aged [rūkṣa (dry), grāhi, lékhana)⁵

• Based on the state: Āma (amla rasa, tridoṣakara); Pakva (Madhura kaṣāya, laghu rūkṣa)

• Based on Vīrya: Śīta - uṣṇa

• Based on the floral source: Saviṣa (poisonous flowers); Nirviṣa

• Based on the type of bee and pharmacological activity: Mākṣika, Bhrāmara, Pauttika, Kṣaudra, Ārghya, Chātra, Dāla, Auddālaka

Honey

Honey is a sweet substance formed by honey bees from sugary secretion of plants. Bees collect nectar as a part of their food which is subjected to regurgitation, enzymatic activity, and water evaporation resulting in honey. The honeybee collects nectar from various flowers and invertase in the bee saliva converts sucrose to glucose and fructose. Glucose oxidase oxidizes the glucose and stabilizes the pH of honey. Catalase degrades hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen, maintaining it at low levels.⁵ The honeybee stores honey in their hives which is characteristic to each species of honeybee. In the absence of other food substances, honey is used as food by the adult and larval bees. The aroma and color of honey changes depending on the floral source, temperature, variety of bee, water content, etc.⁶ Honey typically varies from a near watery color to dark amber color depending on the mineral content.⁷

The composition of honey varies depending on the type and source. It comprises mainly of sugars and minor amounts of proteins, organic acids, vitamins, minerals, pigments, phenolic compounds and many volatile compounds. It also contains impurities like pollen from the flowers.8 The classical references of the properties of various types of honey are given in Table 1. 

Types of honey bees in apiculture available in the local markets of Karnataka

Tuḍuvé¹⁴

Apis cerana is Tuḍuvé bee found in the eastern part of the world. It is yellowish-brown in colour. Here the bees are comparatively quieter. Black variety of Tuḍuvé is of Apis mellifera species and is found in the western parts of the world. It is yellow in colour and they are known to flourish even at higher temperature and in scarcity of food. Apis cerana species of Tuḍuvé are more hygienic than Apis mellifera in nesting. Hives are almost inaccessible. They are seen to get constructive at places with shades of the buildings, termite mounts, earthen pots. The hive architecture is of multiple parallel layers which are almost equidistant from each other.¹⁵ Morphologically they are large black coloured bees with four yellow abdominal stripes. They have hair covering their eyes. They have stings, but are considered less aggressive. They are considered superior variety and are the sought after species in apiculture. In North India, Apis cerana bees are sought for apiculture. We can expect up to 5-15 kg of honey per year. Honey is pale in colour.

Kolu-jénu¹⁶

Structurally, they are red or brown in colour and can be considered as Apis florea. Apis florea species are dwarf bees which are brown in colour with white stripes. They build hives around small branches and bamboo. Concentric circles or zones are seen in the hives.²² Bees make a typical piping sound. They are difficult to domesticate as they are frequent migrators and this is the reason for their small hives. Honey collected is around 1kg per colony. The honey is dark in colour and has higher acidic content compared to Apis mellifera.

Hejjénu/ Kadu jenu¹⁵

Apis dorsata is also known as rock bee or giant honey bee. Hejjénu includes three sub species, that is, Apis dorsata laboriosa, Apis dorsata bighami. The hives are large up to 1m and yield about 4.8 lbs of honey and 1.82 lbs of wax. They are known to build nests at a considerably lower level. They are seasonal migrators. Honey is collected in a crude way by driving away the bees. For this, Cassia fistula leaves are placed on fire which will emit an acrid smoke to repel the bees. Once the bees have migrated, the hive is knocked off.²⁴ Honey is taila varṇa. It is the most common harvested variety of honey.

Misrī¹⁵

Trigona iridepennis and Melipona iridepennis are the species that come under Misrī. They are stingless and also called as Dammer bees. These are black bees with pale yellow colour blend. They get constructive in trunks of trees, logs, wall crevices etc., but not as constructive as the Apis variety of bees. Hives have a tubular entrance. The hive structure can be slit, oval, circular or funnel shaped made up of wax and resin. The hives contain elliptical cells to store honey and pollen. The bees collect resin (propolis) from the plants and use it along with wax to build their nest. They are easy to domesticate but the honey obtained is minimal in quantity, dark in colour and bitter in taste.

Tōriga¹⁶

These are small variety of bees and they seldom sting. They occupy the deserted white ant nests. The honeycomb is spiral or tetragonal in shape. Both the honey and wax from these hives are minimal in quantity.

Honeybees also secrete a white jelly-like sugary-proteinaceous substance called Royal jelly.¹⁵ This serves as the primary source of food for the growing larvae. This is similar to ghṛta varṇa.

Honeydew is a sticky sugary substance produced by aphids and other scaly insects while feeding on plant material. It is commonly found as sticky secretion on leaf secretions.¹⁶

Certain varieties of wasps called Mexican honey wasps-Brachygastra mellifica are also observed to produce honey in minimal quantities. Their hives are complex spiral or capsule shaped and papery with small quantities of honey in them.¹⁵

Honeypot ants are types of ants which produce and store honey in their abdomen. A total of seven ant genera have developed this specialization. These insects are being used by many tribal communities around the world in the form of food.¹⁷

Honey consists of a wide range of phenolic compounds which originate from pollen from flowers, which seem to possess specific properties indigenous to the source plant and geographical location. Based on this, the honey shows difference in colour, chemical and physical properties.18 Hence, honey can also be classified as unifloral and multifloral, based on the number of species of flowers the bee collects honey from. Although it is difficult in limiting bee’s collection habits in counties like India with such vast variations in the landscape, in larger countries where the terrain and cultivation remain almost uniform over large areas of land, honeybees can be bred to obtain honey from a single floral source. In this case, the honeybee acts as a carrier for transporting exclusive plant properties which is passed on to the honey. Examples for such unifloral honeys are Sourwood honey, Alfalfa honey, Sage honey, Manuka honey, etc.

Sourwood honey, Alfalfa honey and Sage honey are proven to possess profound prebiotic properties as compared to other forms of honey. Manuka honey is obtained from Leptospermum scoparium bush and is observed to possess profound wound healing and anti-microbial properties.¹⁹ Another important unilforal honey is the Mad honey which is obtained from Rhododendron genus of flowering plants. It is considered highly toxic as it is contaminated with a natural floral toxin called grayanotoxin. It produces adverse effects like mental confusion, muscular weakness, exhaustion, confusion, hyperthermia and other systemic complications which may even lead to death.²⁰ Tualañg honey is a special type of multifloral honey produced in Malaysia which possess memory enhancing properties and it is extracted from the honey combs formed on the trees of Koompassia excelsa species.²¹ Based on the floral source, the honey also behaves differently on heating. For example, when Acacia honey is heated, the antioxidant properties decrease greatly in contrast to other types of honey.²²

Discussion

Generally, we do not recognize the differences in honey used in daily life. But the popularity of apiculture and its environmental impact in the present day has somewhat improved our knowledge in this area. However, there is a lack of understanding of the medicinal and nutritional value of honey based on the different species of honeybees producing it. Āyurveda has recognized the types of honey based on structure of honeybees and their hives. When these are compared with various types of honey currently available, we can find many similarities with regard to the color and properties of honey. This is evident today in many types of unifloral honey and those obtained from different geographical locations which have varied flora. This shows that the properties of Madhu can be attributed to the floral source as well. ²³

There are morphological descriptions and behaviors of the honeybees, matching them with their respective honey produced, in a simple convenient way for easy understanding and identification by the people. This highlights the entomological proficiency of Acharyas in that era. Makṣhikā type of bees are said to be large, aggressive and are found in the wild. This behavior and morphology are observed in the Apis mellifera mellifera, Apis dorsata dorsata, Apis dorsata laboriosa or Apis dorsata bighami varieties called as Hejjénu locally. ²⁴ The color and properties of the honey depends on the type of flowers from which it is collected. Accordingly, the Mākṣika (taila varṇa) and Pouttika (ghṛta varṇa) types of Madhu, though differing in properties, can be considered as produced by Hejjénu. This variety is the most widely used variety of honey among all existing types. The Bhramara variety of bees are big and dark in color with or without yellow stripes, which can be identified as Apis cerana (Indian variety) or Apis mellifera liguistica (western variety), identified as Tuḍuvé jénu in folklore. These species are wild and produce multifloral honey. But Bhrāmara honey is told to be of Shweta varna which is produced by Apis cerana variety. Hence Kshudra Makṣhikā are small in size and are of piñgala varna which can be correlated to the Apis florea types which produce dark colored honey. ²⁵

The description of Chātra Makṣhikā fits those of Apis dorsata as being piñgala varṇa. But they are told to be stingless which is quite contrasting, as A. dorsata possesses stings and are aggressive. Chātra Madhu is obtained from Chatra or umbrella shaped hives which is characteristic of wasp hives and a species of bees called Trigona iridipennis. T. iridepennis are called Dammer bees and are stingless bees which produce less quantities of honey and can be easily domesticated. Chātra Madhu is kalpila varna and Madhura but the honey produced by T. iridepennis is dark and bitter. A species of wasps called Mexican honey wasp- Brachygastra mellifica is seen to produce honey in minute quantities, which fits the description quite well. It is also observed in certain ant species called Honeypot ants which dwell in anthills and store honey in their abdomen. ^24,25

Auddāla Madhu is said to be obtained from valmīka or ant hills. This is seen in Honeypot ants and maybe in some species of bees like Tetragonula species which occupy abandoned anthills and produce minute quantities of honey with royal jelly within, which resembles ghṛta varṇa (Pouttika Madhu). The hives also resemble umbrella or domes or spiral shapes, which is the description given for Chātra Madhu. ²⁶

Ārghya Madhu is told to be obtained by the bees from madhūka vṛkṣaniryāsa, which currently doesn’t seem to fit the description of any of the honeybees known.

Dāla honey is said to be produced by small bees in hollow tree trunks. This corresponds to the behavior of Dammer bees or Trigonia iridepennis mentioned earlier. There is also a reference which says that Dāla honey is that which is fallen on leaves from flowers. This is the honey dew commonly found on plant surfaces, secreted by aphids and other scale insects.

Conclusion

The Mākṣika variety of honey is the most widely used variety amongst all. But there are many other variants used in rural areas by the ethnic groups, both as food and in medicine. They have managed to observe and utilize different types of honey for specific purposes based on their properties. Wild varieties of honey collected and sold is usually of the Rock bee or Hejjénu variety. But commercial beekeeping relies on the Tuḍuvé variety as they are easy to domesticate. There is a need for further study in this field to assess the exact medicinal values of various types of commercially available honey variants for effective utilization based on indication as both food and medicine.

Conflict of interest

None