Manuka Honey vs. Raw Honey: What Are the Differences?

First, let’s talk about how honey is made.

Raw honey’s unprocessed, unpasteurized, and unfiltered state creates an intricate combination of sugars, enzymes, and other valuable nutrients that support overall wellness.

Bees produce honey from the collected nectar of flowers. They gather up nectar, process it using a special enzyme in their digestive systems, then pack it into a honeycomb.

From there, the bees flap their wings to dry and cure the nectar, turning it into honey. Then it’s harvested by a beekeeper, potentially processed (we’ll get to this in a minute), and packaged for consumption.

The regular honey you find at the grocery store is generally pasteurized and filtered, which helps give it a consistent color and texture to meet the expectations many shoppers have when looking for the standard bottle of honey. However, the pasteurization process requires heating the honey to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, destroying some of its naturally occurring beneficial nutrients.

Enter raw honey. This honey is left in its natural form, skipping the pasteurization process and retaining its beneficial nutrients. Sometimes raw honey is filtered for a smoother texture and to remove impurities. Other times, it’s sold just as it was found in the hive, honeycomb intact and all.

Benefits of Raw Honey

Raw honey is packed with more than 180 substances, including prebiotics, essential minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium), and vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and C). Unfortunately, most of these beneficial compounds can be destroyed by pasteurization.

Raw honey is left in its natural form and is minimally processed. It may or may not be filtered, but you’ll still find most of its original beneficial nutrients intact.

Thanks to all those beneficial nutrients, humans have been using raw honey for its health benefits for thousands of years. Raw honey is most often used to support immunity, digestion, and overall wellness.

What Is Manuka Honey?

Manuka honey is a special kind of honey made by bees that forage on flowers from the Manuka tea tree (Leptospermum scoparium), native to New Zealand. Since this type of tree is only found in one region of the world and its flowers only bloom for a few weeks each year, Manuka honey is quite rare. That’s one of the reasons it’s so prized and sought after.

Another thing to note is that Manuka honey is monofloral, meaning it’s produced from just one type of flower. These flowers have a special substance called leptosperin, a nutrient that offers unique properties.

Unique Benefits of Manuka Honey

While the leaves are undoubtedly beautiful, the flowers adorning the foliage are the star of the show. These flowers are tiny but mighty, producing nectar containing a nutrient called methylglyoxal (MGO). This unique, well-known, and well-researched compound sets Manuka honey apart.

Manuka honey contains methylglyoxal (MGO), a unique compound. You’ll also find leptosperin and dihydroxyacetone (DHA) in Manuka honey, plus hundreds of other beneficial nutrients like antioxidants and prebiotics.

Because of these, Manuka honey can be used to support a healthy immune response, digestive health, healthy energy levels, and overall well-being.

However you plan to use your Manuka honey, it’s useful to understand the MGO levels. Higher MGO honey offers more potency. We recommend 600+ MGO for daily wellness and vitality, 850+ MGO for daily immune support, and 1000+ MGO for advanced support.

Sensory-wise, Manuka honey is darker, thicker, and more textured than most of the honey you’ll find at the supermarket. When the MGO level is higher, it can even taste slightly earthy and floral. However, to most of its devoted fans, there’s nothing more delicious and satisfying than a rich, creamy spoonful of Manuka honey—it’s truly a sensory experience like no other!

What Makes Manuka Honey Different From Raw Honey?

Manukora Manuka honey is raw honey.

It would be a shame to destroy all those beneficial nutrients (especially MGO) with heat, particularly since this honey is so rare. This is why our Manuka is always kept raw.

It’s more helpful to think of our Manukora Manuka as a type of raw honey that goes above and beyond—that’s why we call it Honey With Superpowers™.

Honey is more than an indulgent treat—it also offers wellness support, making it a perfect addition to almost any lifestyle. This golden treat has long been a beacon for its beneficial nutrients, garnishing attention far before people could even analyze its nutrient content.

With modern technologies, diving into the specifics of honey is much easier. Standard raw honey, or multifloral honey, consists of the following components:

• 15-20% water
• About 80% carbohydrates, primarily sugars (mostly glucose and fructose)
• Vitamins, including B6, riboflavin, and niacin
• Minerals, including potassium, calcium, and magnesium
• Phenolic acids (antioxidants)
• Flavonoids (antioxidants and anti-inflammatory)

Raw honey contains ample components that make it a great addition to a healthy lifestyle. It’s packed with antioxidants, and its nutrients contribute to overall wellness.

However, not all honey is equal.

Manuka honey contains all of the same beneficial nutrients as raw, multifloral honey but adds a few unique components. Thanks to the Manuka tea tree, Manuka honey also contains the following:

• Methylglyoxal (MGO)
• Leptosperin (antioxidant)
• Potent fructooligosaccharides (prebiotics)

These unique nutrients have drawn the attention of researchers for their beneficial properties. Honey in and of itself is a powerhouse, but Manuka honey takes this a step further with its unique nutritional profile.

How Does Manuka Honey Support General Wellness Compared to Raw Honey?

Manuka honey is enriched with unique antioxidants and prebiotics that support overall health and wellness. It provides a natural source of energy and antioxidants that help maintain the body's normal functions and support general wellness.

Manukora’s Commitment to Authentic Manuka Honey

At Manukora, we’re committed to providing the highest quality Manuka honey while prioritizing bee health and environmental sustainability through what we call The Art of Ethical Beekeeping.

We preserve the purity and potency of Manuka honey through a few crucial practices. It starts with hive placement. Constant hive transports can disrupt the bees, so our beekeepers carefully select remote locations for the hives where they won’t need to be moved.

The remote, wild locations allow our bees to produce honey free from environmental toxins such as glyphosate. Within these isolated areas, our bees are safely removed from toxic pesticides and other harsh chemicals that could affect the hive’s health.

After positioning the hives, we let nature take its course. The bees happily buzz around the hive, flitting to nearby Manuka tea trees to collect their unique nectar.

When the time to harvest arrives, our beekeepers delicately extract the honey, ensuring the honey and the bees remain in peak condition. We don’t harvest the entirety of the honey, as the bees need it to sustain themselves during cooler months. Instead, we harvest the surplus, leaving the bees with ample food for the winter.

We leave the honey we harvest raw, in the same state it was coming out of the hive. Excessive heat treatments, pasteurization, and fine filters can remove the beneficial nutrients Manuka honey is known for. Thus, we keep the honey raw to preserve these compounds, as well as its creamy and delicious flavor.

Summary

Raw honey is unpasteurized honey that’s left in its natural form, with all of its beneficial nutrients intact. Meanwhile, Manuka honey goes a step further. Manuka is a type of raw honey with a unique compound called MGO, which no other honey has!

Explore our authentic, MGO-rated, ethically-produced New Zealand Manuka honey here.

FAQs

What is raw honey?

Raw honey is honey in its natural state, not subjected to pasteurization. It retains all of its beneficial nutrients, which can be destroyed during the pasteurization (heating) process.

How does raw honey compare to regular honey?

The main difference between raw honey and regular honey is the pasteurization process. Regular honey is often pasteurized, while raw honey isn't, allowing it to retain more beneficial compounds.

How does Manuka honey compare to regular honey?

Manuka honey is produced from a single type of flower, the Manuka tea tree flower. It contains unique beneficial nutrients, like MGO, that are not present in regular honey.

How does Manuka honey compare to raw honey?

Manuka honey is a type of raw honey that contains MGO, a compound unique to the Manuka tea tree. It's also exclusively from New Zealand, making it rare and highly valued compared to other types of honey. 

Sources:

• Phenolic Compounds in Honey and Their Associated Health Benefits: A Review | PMC
• Health Benefits of Honey | IntechOpen
• Dynamics of the Cellular Metabolism of Leptosperin Found in Manuka Honey | PMC
• Antibacterial activity of Manuka honey and its components: An overview | PMC
• Monofloral Honeys as a Potential Source of Natural Antioxidants, Minerals and Medicine | PMC
• What makes mānuka honey 100 times more expensive than regular honey | Business Insider
• Testing mānuka honey is authentic | NZ Government