Abstract
Both honeybees (Apis spp.) and stingless bees (Trigona spp.) produce honeys with high nutritional and therapeutics value. Until recently, the information regarding potential health benefits of stingless bee honey (SBH) in medical databases is still scarce as compared to the common European bee honey (EBH) which is well known for their properties as therapeutic agents. Although there have been very few reports on SBH, empirically these products would have similar therapeutic quality as the EBH. In addition, due to the structure of the nest, few studies reported that the antimicrobial activity of SBH is a little bit stronger than EBH. Therefore, the composition of both the types of honey as well as the traditional uses and clinical applications were compared. The results of various studies on EBH and SBH from tissue culture research to randomised control clinical trials were collated in this review. Interestingly, there are many therapeutic properties that are unique to SBH. Therefore, SBH has a great potential to be developed for modern medicinal uses.
Highlights
Honey is an important natural food product since ancient times and is known for its nutritional and therapeutic values
European honeybees (Apis mellifera) and stingless bees (Figure 1) are the two most common bees. e European honey bee is a member of a group of bees in the genus of Apis whereas stingless bee can be classified into two genera, namely, the Melipona and the Trigona [2]
Honey produced by stingless bees is known with various names such as Meliponine honey, stingless bee honey (SBH) pot-honey, and Kelulut honey
Summary
Honey is an important natural food product since ancient times and is known for its nutritional and therapeutic values. It is produced from liquid plant exudates which is gathered, modified, and stored by different types of bees [1]. Honey produced by stingless bees is known with various names such as Meliponine honey, stingless bee honey (SBH) pot-honey, and Kelulut honey (in Malaysia) It is one of the valuable bee products and is attributed with some medicinal properties by ancient peoples [6]. SBH has been proven to show peculiar antioxidant activities and exhibits outstanding ability in reducing inflammation and infection [19]. erefore, in this, we describe the health effects of stingless bee honey in comparison with honey produced by the European honey bee. e importance of polyphenols in honey as well as their potential mechanisms in treating certain diseases is discussed
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