Why Yemeni honey is not the same as supermarket honey
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Yemeni honeys beat every imported one
Four of the five Yemeni honeys contained significantly more total phenolics than every imported honey tested.
What they did
Researchers at Sana'a University measured the phenolic content of five Yemeni honeys, including two Sidr harvests, and compared them with four honeys imported from the United States, Switzerland and Iran.
What they found
Four of the five Yemeni honeys contained significantly more total phenolics than every imported honey tested.
mg per 100g
Phenolics are naturally occurring plant compounds that carry into honey from the nectar. They are one of the things that separates a distinctive single-origin honey from a blended commodity one, and they can be measured directly rather than asserted.
Across all the samples, total phenolic content ranged from 56 to 246 mg per 100g. Four of the five Yemeni honeys sat significantly above every imported honey in the comparison.
The study also found that the more phenolics a honey contained, the higher it scored on a laboratory antioxidant test — the two moved together.
What this study does not show
- Sidr was not the highest. A Yemeni acacia honey, Salam-Tehamah, scored top on both phenolic content and antioxidant activity. We would rather tell you that than quietly crop the chart.
- Antioxidant activity measured in a test tube is not the same as anything happening in your body after you eat it.
- One sample per honey type. Phenolic content shifts with season, region and how the honey is handled.
- Published in 2002. The analytical methods have moved on since.