HONEY AS FUNCTIONAL FOOD AND NUTRACEUTICAL: A REVIEW

Honey is a natural product made by bees from nectars of flowers. Its nutritional and health benefit are known from ancient times. It is a rich source of fructose and glucose and contain many other sugars including maltose, sucrose and other complex carbohydrates. It is used as natural preservative, flavoring and sweetening agents in many foods and beverages. Its sweet taste makes it more palatable to children and has a remarkable role in child nutrition. Honey has got various therapeutic benefits like antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, gastroprotective and helps in metabolism, treatment of wounds, burns, ophthalmic conditions, diabetes and so on. Ayurveda describes honey as ‘madhu’. Eight varieties of honey based on the collection by different bees are mentioned in ayurvedic texts and each variety has its own properties. Makshika variety of honey is considered as best among them. Honey is used as medication internally as well as externally. Administration of honey from the birth itself along with ghee is mentioned in Ayurveda which acts as an immunomodulator. It can be also used as an adjuvant in medicines. It is also helpful in respiratory tract disorders such as common cold, sore throat, cough. It has scraping property that helps in metabolism of fat. Ayurveda considered honey as yogavahi, that is without changing its properties, it will enhance the medicinal qualities and also helps them to circulate in the body. Functional food and nutraceuticals gain importance in the present era as they provide many health benefits characterized by disease prevention and alleviation. Honey intake as medicine and food has many nutritional and therapeutic benefits which makes it a functional food and nutraceutical.