Honey Basics, Mānuka's Superpowers

Manuka vs. Conventional Honey: A Detailed Comparative Analysis

Krista Bugden

Published at: September 27, 2023
Updated at: December 4, 2024

11 minutes

Comparison Table: Manuka Honey vs. Regular Honey

Feature	Manuka Honey	Regular Honey
Origin	Manuka tea tree in New Zealand	Various floral sources worldwide
Nutritional Content	High MGO, Leptosperin, antioxidants	Lower in unique compounds
Texture & Flavor	Rich, creamy, complex flavor	Typically lighter and smoother
Health Benefits	Contains unique nutrients like MGO	General wellness support
Harvest Time	Only 6-week window per year	More flexible harvesting
Rarity	Considered rare and premium	Widely available
Testing & Certification	Rigorously tested, MGO-rated	Less regulated

Executive Summary:

Manuka honey is a rare monofloral honey produced from the nectar of the Manuka tea tree native to New Zealand, while regular honey is multifloral, produced from a blend of nectar.
Regular honey is a source of beneficial minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, but Manuka honey also contains unique bioactive components like methylglyoxal (MGO), leptosperin, and prebiotics not found in regular honey.
Manuka honey's nutrients offer unique benefits that support a healthy lifestyle.
Regular honey varies in taste and texture depending on the nectar used to produce it, but Manuka honey is rich and creamy and boasts a unique toffee flavor available in different intensities.

Manuka vs. Regular Honey: Unraveling the Differences

If you’re a lover of nature's nectar, then you’d agree that all honey is inherently delicious. While most raw honey has unique qualities, Manuka honey offers a little more thanks to its high nutrient density.

Manuka honey stands apart from other types of honey, primarily due to its associated nutritional profile paired with the sheer sensory experience that comes with it. Its unique aroma, creamy consistency, and rich texture make for a downright delicious indulgence.

Thanks to its various naturally occurring nutrients, it also offers support for your overall health and well-being.

The world of honey is vast and varied. To make a choice that supports a healthy lifestyle, it's important to understand the differences between the different types of honey so you know exactly what to look for in your next bottle of liquid gold.

All honey is made by honey bees but differs as a result of the nectar the bees use, as well as the pasteurizing and processing that takes place after it's harvested. Let's explore the fascinating differences between Manuka honey and regular honey.

What Is Manuka Honey?

Manuka honey is a monofloral honey derived from the Manuka tea tree in New Zealand. It only has a six-week harvest window each year.

The nutrients in Manuka honey are distinctive to the nectar of the Manuka tea tree, only grown in remote regions in New Zealand, and are what truly make it a super honey.

In particular, Manukora’s Manuka honey is produced in “The Golden Triangle” of New Zealand, which is famous for the highest potency of Manuka honey.

Our honey undergoes an authentication and testing process to ensure all of the beneficial flavonoids, phenolic acids, and other beneficial nutrients are present in each batch before arriving at your doorstep.

Origins: The Tale of Two Nectars

Honey is made when honey bees take nectar from plants and convert it to simple sugars and other trace components through enzymatic action. The honey is stored in a liquid form in the honeycomb where it is harvested. The nectar the bees use directly determines the composition, taste, and texture of the raw honey stored in the hive.

Regular honey is typically produced by honeybees that collect nectar from a variety of flowering plants, bushes, and trees in the area surrounding their hives—imagine a nectar buffet experience for the bees. The nectar varies depending on the plant life, which is directly influenced by the climate and geographical locations of the farms and yields a wide variety of common or regular honey.

Manuka honey is unique as it is produced from only one type of nectar—the nectar from the Manuka tea tree (Leptospermum scoparium) flowers. These tiny white flowers blossom for only two to six weeks each year! For these reasons, this monofloral (single source of nectar) honey is rare. Yet, also thanks to these reasons, Manuka honey contains plenty of beneficial nutrients.

Composition: What Makes Them Unique?

For centuries, people have been aware of the beneficial properties of honey—even before they were able to analyze it and discover its various nutrients. Today, it’s easy to examine honey and quantify the differences between the regular (multifloral) and Manuka variety.

Honey is mostly made up of sugars and water, but there are trace amounts of other chemical components that transform watery sugar into the liquid gold we enjoy. Let’s take a closer look at the typical composition of regular raw (untreated) honey.

Composition of Regular Raw Honey:

Water (15-20%)
Carbohydrates in the form of sugars: mainly fructose and glucose (around 80%)
Minerals: mainly potassium, calcium, magnesium
Vitamins: mainly B6, riboflavin, and niacin
Phenolic acids: antioxidants
Flavonoids: antioxidants and anti-inflammatory

Additional Components Unique to Manuka Honey:

Manuka honey contains the same beneficial nutrients listed above, but it is unique in that it has a few extra bioactive components—courtesy of the Manuka tea tree nectar.

Methylglyoxal (MGO)
Leptosperin: antioxidant
Fructo-oligosaccharides: prebiotics

These bioactive components provide unique and desirable benefits that elevate Manuka honey and set it apart from regular honey.

For honey to be considered genuine Manuka honey, it must undergo a rigorous testing process that ensures all of the necessary components are accounted for.

The Benefits Spectrum

Regular raw honey is a source of energy with a lower glycemic index than regular sugar. This means that you can enjoy more sweetness with fewer calories.

It further supports a healthy lifestyle by promoting overall wellness. Antioxidants present in honey support regular functioning of the whole body and a normal immune system.

The unique composition of Manuka honey goes a few steps further than general wellness thanks to its nutrient profile. Here's a breakdown of the components of Manuka honey and their benefits:

It Contains MGO (Methylglyoxal)

Methylglyoxal (MGO) is prominent in Manuka honey. This unique nutrient contributes to the distinctive properties of this honey.

MGO originates in the nectar of the Manuka tea tree flower and is transferred by the bees during the honey production process.

Paying attention to the MGO levels in your Manuka is the first step to ensuring you’re getting the best Manuka possible. Always check that any Manuka honey you buy is MGO-rated. A higher MGO number means more MGO in the Manuka honey, which also means higher levels of other key nutrients such as Leptosperin (a key antioxidant).

Even if you’ve never tried Manuka before, MGO 600+ is a good place to start to experience some of the key benefits that MGO has to offer.

It Has the Antioxidant Leptosperin

Leptosperin is a highly active phytochemical in Manuka honey; it makes up a majority of Manuka’s concentrated polyphenol levels and significantly contributes to its antioxidant properties. Leptosperin is actually unique to Manuka honey, adding to its distinctive and rare nature.

It’s Packed With Prebiotics

Gut health is a determining factor in many functions of your body. If your gut microbiome isn’t balanced and healthy, it can affect various aspects of your life—your mood, eating habits, energy levels, ability to exercise, weight, and more.

Keeping your gut healthy isn’t necessarily difficult. Often, the piece missing is education regarding dietary and lifestyle choices. For instance, the results can be significant when a healthy prebiotic is paired with the right diet and lifestyle. While you can get prebiotics in tablet or capsule form, you can also eat foods high in prebiotic nutrients that can help maintain your microbiome.

Manuka honey has several oligosaccharides, prebiotic nutrients that can help support the normal activities of starch-degrading enzymes and help promote a healthy level of beneficial GI bacteria in our gut. Natural sugars can also support the healthy function of this bacteria, which Manuka honey is full of.

Our honey is only home to natural sugar from Manuka tea tree nectar and bees. We never substitute natural nectar with processed sugar, meaning Manukora Manuka honey only has natural sugars.

Natural sugars can work synergistically with other beneficial ingredients in Manuka, making this nectar a genuine superfood when it comes to the nutrients it can offer when consumed.

Taste and Texture: A Connoisseur's Perspective

You already know that honey is sweet, but there’s a lot more to the culinary experience of honey than its sugar content. The nectar that the bees use to produce the honey is the greatest factor in determining the taste and texture of each honey you’ll find in the store.

Regular honey, depending on the nectar it was produced from, can range in flavor from light and floral to sharp and deep. The color of the honey provides helpful clues regarding its taste. Generally, the lighter the honey, the softer the flavor. Its color also provides insight into the nutrient density of the honey and its water content. Typically, darker honey is richer in nutrients and has a lower water content—making it a more valuable option regarding beneficial properties.

When it comes to the texture of regular honey, you’ll find a wide range that includes syrupy, creamy, and coarse—depending on the source of the nectar and the type of processing done after harvesting.

Manuka honey, in particular, has a unique flavor profile that ranges in flavor intensity due to the varying concentrations of its unique components. Manuka honey with a greater MGO content is darker and has a deep caramel, toffee flavor. Lighter Manuka honey, on the other hand, offers a softer, more floral flavor and a lower MGO content.

The texture of Manuka honey is smooth and creamy, similar to a rich buttery caramel. It isn’t syrupy like regular honey often is, but it is versatile and can easily be enjoyed straight out of the jar.

The Manukora Difference

At Manukora, we are passionate about providing the highest quality Manuka honey on the market while protecting our precious bees and preserving the Manuka tea tree that makes this special honey possible. Here’s how:

Ethical Beekeeping Practices: Manukora practices The Art of Ethical Beekeeping. When we gently harvest honey, we leave plenty to sustain the bees through the winter and disturb them as little as possible. We work hard to protect the Manuka tea trees so our bees have access to an abundance of nectar. We also never add any GMOs or antibiotics to our pure raw honey.
Remote Harvesting Locations: Remote harvesting locations boost the purity and quality of our Manuka honey, thanks to the dense Manuka tea tree forests surrounding the hives.
Rigorous Testing and Authentication: Each batch of Manukora’s honey is authenticated and tested in a lab to ensure that it meets the required amounts of MGO, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. That way, you know you're getting the real stuff!

Conclusion

Regular honey in its pure raw form supports general well-being. Yet, Manuka honey offers significantly greater benefits due to its unique nutrients.

With options like Manuka Honey MGO 600+, MGO 850+, and MGO 1000+, it's easy to find a variant that fits your specific needs. For those looking to support their digestive health, exploring Manukora's Digestive Support Collection can be beneficial.

To better understand the unique properties of Manuka honey, delving into resources like the MGO Manuka Honey Guide and learning about the Manuka Tree Origin can be enlightening. Additionally, Manuka honey's contribution to natural energy is noteworthy, particularly in contrast to regular honey.

Both types of honey are sweet and offer varied culinary experiences depending on the nectar the bees used and the density of the various nutrients in the final product. However, Manuka honey offers a unique sensory experience thanks to its one-of-a-kind nutrient profile and MGO content.

The best way to experience the incredible flavors of Manuka honey and how it supports well-being is to give it a try—very few lifestyle changes are as delicious and simple as the addition of a daily dose of Manuka honey.

To find out which Manuka honey will suit you best, take this quiz and learn more by exploring our blog.

FAQs About Manuka Honey

What makes Manuka honey different from regular honey?

Manuka honey is a monofloral honey derived from the nectar of the Manuka tea tree in New Zealand. Unlike regular honey, which is typically produced from various floral sources, Manuka honey contains unique nutrients like Methylglyoxal (MGO), Leptosperin, and prebiotics. These components contribute to its rich, creamy texture and distinctive flavor, setting it apart as a premium honey.

How should I incorporate Manuka honey into my daily routine?

You can enjoy Manuka honey directly from the spoon or integrate it into your favorite foods and beverages. We recommend taking 1-3 heaped teaspoons daily. It's delicious in smoothies, drizzled over oatmeal or yogurt, or added to tea or coffee after it has cooled slightly.

Is Manuka honey ethically sourced from Manukora?

Absolutely. At Manukora, we practice ethical beekeeping by harvesting honey responsibly and ensuring our bees thrive in their natural environment. We protect the Manuka tea trees and avoid the use of GMOs, antibiotics, or glyphosate in our honey production.

How is Manuka honey tested for quality and authenticity?

Each batch of our Manuka honey undergoes rigorous testing to authenticate its purity and verify its MGO content and other beneficial nutrients. This ensures you receive genuine Manuka honey with all its unique properties intact.

Why is Manuka honey considered rare and premium?

Manuka honey is harvested from the Manuka tea tree, which blooms for only 2-6 weeks each year in remote regions of New Zealand. This limited harvest window, combined with its unique nutrient profile, contributes to its rarity and premium status.