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

Abstract

Background Honey is considered to be a very important nutraceutical product since time immemorial and is collected from variable sources. Ayurveda emphasized the presence of eight types of honey best known for different medicinal and food purposes. Ethnic groups practicing folk medicine often collect honey from available sources and have little knowledge about their medicinal value. At present many brands of honey are being marketed with no mentioning about their source creating confusion among doctors as well as patients regarding their therapeutic value.Aims and Objectives To decode the concepts of identification and therapeutic usage of different varieties of honey mentioned in Ayurvedic literature with the modern knowledge about apiculture.Methods Present review article focuses on types of honey available from different varieties of bees and allied insects contemplating traditional knowledge. Information about different varieties of honey produced locally was collected from various sources and was compared with Ayurvedic classical literature to understand its therapeutic effects.Results Ayurveda has recognized the types of honey based on structure of honeybees and their hives. When these are compared with the varieties of honey currently available we can find many similarities with regard to the color and properties of the honey.Conclusion Commercial beekeeping relies on the Tuduve variety as they are easy to domesticate. There is a need for further study in this field to assess the exact medicinal value of various types of commercially available honey variants for effective utilization based on indication as both food and medicine.