What is medical grade honey made of?

November 28, 2025 •

4 min read

According to a 2024 review, medical-grade honey must meet stringent criteria to guarantee safety and efficacy for therapeutic use. So, what is medical grade honey made of, and how does it become so effective for clinical applications like wound care? It is derived from specific floral sources and undergoes a precise sterilization process to ensure it is safe for medical use.

Quick Summary

Medical grade honey is sourced from targeted floral varieties, most notably Manuka. It is sterilized, typically with gamma irradiation, to remove bacteria and spores like Clostridium botulinum, while preserving its potent antimicrobial and healing properties. Key components, such as Methylglyoxal, contribute to its superior therapeutic effects.

Key Points

Sourcing: Medical grade honey is sourced from specific, medicinally potent floral varieties, like New Zealand's Manuka tree.
Sterilization: It undergoes a sterilization process, typically gamma irradiation, to eliminate bacterial spores, including Clostridium botulinum, making it safe for wound application.
Potent Compounds: Key bioactive components, such as Methylglyoxal (MGO) found in Manuka, provide exceptional and stable antibacterial activity.
Natural Mechanisms: Its high sugar content creates an osmotic effect that dehydrates bacteria, while its naturally low pH further inhibits microbial growth.
Purity: Strict regulations ensure it is free from contaminants like pesticides and antibiotics, which can be present in regular honey.
Benefits: Used in wound care, it offers broad-spectrum antimicrobial action, disrupts bacterial biofilms, and promotes faster, less-scarring tissue healing.
Application: Unlike grocery store honey, medical grade honey is formulated into sterile gels, dressings, and creams for clinical use.

The Core Composition of Medical Grade Honey

At its heart, medical grade honey begins with the fundamental components of any honey: a solution of approximately 80% sugars (primarily fructose and glucose) and 20% water. However, its medical efficacy stems from key compounds and controlled processing.

Floral Source and Unique Bioactive Compounds

The floral source from which the bees collect nectar is the most critical factor determining medical grade honey's unique properties.

Manuka Honey: The most well-known medical honey is derived from the Manuka (Leptospermum) tree native to New Zealand and Australia. Its exceptional antibacterial power comes from high concentrations of methylglyoxal (MGO), which is formed from another compound, dihydroxyacetone (DHA), present in the Manuka flower's nectar. MGO gives Manuka honey its robust non-peroxide activity, meaning it retains antibacterial properties even when hydrogen peroxide is neutralized.
Other Honeys: While Manuka is the most common, other honeys are also used, such as Revamil from controlled greenhouse environments and specific varieties like Buckwheat or Tualang honey, which have been shown to have strong antimicrobial and healing effects. The potency of these honeys depends on their specific botanical origin and the resulting bioactive compounds they contain.

General Antimicrobial Properties

Beyond specific floral markers like MGO, all honey possesses inherent antimicrobial activity due to several factors:

Osmolarity: The high sugar content and low water activity create a hypertonic environment that draws moisture out of bacterial cells, effectively dehydrating and inhibiting their growth.
Low pH: Honey is naturally acidic, with a pH typically between 3.2 and 4.5. This low pH level is inhospitable to most pathogenic bacteria.
Hydrogen Peroxide: The enzyme glucose oxidase, secreted by bees, produces low, non-tissue-damaging levels of hydrogen peroxide when the honey is diluted by wound exudate. This provides a constant, mild antiseptic action.
Other Compounds: Additional components like flavonoids, phenolic acids, antioxidants, and the bee-derived antimicrobial peptide, bee defensin-1, contribute to honey's therapeutic effects.

The Crucial Manufacturing Process for Medical Grade Honey

What truly differentiates medical grade honey from its supermarket counterpart is the rigorous, controlled manufacturing process it undergoes.

Sterilization

Medical grade honey is sterilized to ensure it is free from bacterial spores, particularly Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, a risk for infants and immunocompromised individuals. The standard method of sterilization for medical honey is gamma irradiation. This process effectively kills spores and microbes without destroying the honey's beneficial compounds, preserving its therapeutic activity. In contrast, heat pasteurization, often used for table honey, can degrade these heat-sensitive enzymes and phytochemicals, reducing its medicinal potency.

Contaminant Control

The sourcing of nectar is carefully controlled to prevent contamination from pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and antibiotics. Medical grade honey must be sourced from organic environments and tested rigorously to ensure it meets these purity standards.

Standardized Quality and Efficacy

Medical grade honey is produced and tested to a standardized level of antibacterial activity. In the case of Manuka honey, this is often indicated by a rating system such as UMF™ (Unique Manuka Factor) or MGO (Methylglyoxal) level, which assures its potency.

Medical Grade Honey vs. Regular Honey: A Comparison

The following table highlights the key differences between medical grade honey and regular table honey.


Feature	Medical Grade Honey	Regular Table Honey
Source	Carefully controlled, often monofloral (e.g., Manuka, Revamil) from unpolluted areas.	Multifloral, sourced from various regions with less control over bee foraging area.
Sterility	Sterilized with gamma irradiation to remove all bacterial spores, including Clostridium botulinum.	May contain bacterial spores. Not safe for infants or immunocompromised individuals.
Processing	Minimally processed to preserve heat-sensitive enzymes and bioactive compounds.	Often heat-processed (pasteurized), which can destroy beneficial enzymes and phytochemicals.
Active Compounds	Contains high, standardized levels of specific compounds like MGO (in Manuka).	Contains lower and more variable levels of antibacterial compounds, with activity dependent on the floral source.
Purity	Rigorously tested for contaminants like pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics.	Standard food-grade purity, but not tested to medical device standards.
Cost	Significantly more expensive due to specialized sourcing and processing.	Generally affordable and widely available for culinary use.
Application	Used topically in sterile wound dressings, gels, and ointments for various wounds.	Intended for culinary use as a sweetener. Never apply to an open wound.

The Therapeutic Advantages of Medical Grade Honey

Medical grade honey's unique composition and processing grant it significant therapeutic advantages. It is not only potently antimicrobial but also promotes the healing process in numerous ways.

Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Activity: Effective against a wide range of pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA.
Biofilm Disruption: Unlike many conventional antibiotics, medical honey is effective at disrupting and penetrating bacterial biofilms, which are a major obstacle in treating chronic infections.
Supports Wound Healing: Its high osmolarity promotes autolytic debridement (the body's own natural cleansing process), while maintaining a moist wound environment that encourages tissue regeneration and reduces scarring.
Anti-inflammatory Effects: The anti-inflammatory properties, attributed to its phenolic content, help reduce pain and swelling at the wound site.
Safe and Non-Toxic: Medical grade honey is non-toxic to tissue and has no known reports of causing honey-resistant bacteria strains.
Deodorizing Action: By controlling bacterial load and removing devitalized tissue, medical honey also effectively eliminates unpleasant wound odors.

Conclusion

What is medical grade honey made of? It is honey from specific, potent floral sources, like Manuka, that has been carefully and controllably processed. It is sterilized through gamma irradiation to ensure absolute safety from harmful spores while preserving its powerful healing properties. The resulting product is a sterile, effective antimicrobial agent with high concentrations of beneficial compounds like MGO, designed specifically for topical medical use. Its contrast to regular table honey, which is not sterile and often heat-treated, highlights why only regulated medical products should be used in wound care. As antibiotic resistance grows, medical grade honey offers a valuable, natural alternative in modern wound management.

[Authoritative Outbound Link] To delve deeper into the criteria and clinical studies surrounding medical grade honey, the journal Wound Care provides extensive peer-reviewed information.

Medical-grade honey: its definition and refined standards

Frequently Asked Questions

No, you should never use store-bought honey on a wound. It is not sterile and may contain bacterial spores, such as Clostridium botulinum, which pose a significant risk of infection, especially to those with compromised immune systems.

The key antibacterial component in Manuka medical grade honey is methylglyoxal (MGO). It is formed from dihydroxyacetone (DHA) found in the Manuka flower nectar and is responsible for its high, stable antibacterial potency.

Medical grade honey is sterilized using gamma irradiation. This process kills harmful bacterial spores and microorganisms without compromising the honey's heat-sensitive antibacterial enzymes and beneficial properties.

Yes, medical grade honey is proven to promote wound healing. It maintains a moist wound environment, promotes autolytic debridement, and reduces inflammation, all of which contribute to faster healing with less scarring.

While all honey has some antimicrobial properties due to high sugar content and low pH, the potency varies drastically depending on the floral source. Medical grade honey is specifically selected and tested for superior, standardized antibacterial activity.

Medical grade honey is effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria, including both gram-positive and gram-negative strains, and notably has demonstrated efficacy against antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA.

Medical grade honey products will be clearly labeled as such and are often assigned a potency rating, like UMF™ or MGO, in the case of Manuka honey. They are regulated medical devices, not food products, and will specify that they have been sterilized for clinical use.