Características físico-químicas e propriedades terapêuticas do mel

Abstract

There has been a trend nowadays to seek out natural products, as they are considered healthy and offer multiple health benefits, which contributes to the consumption and demand for honey. Honey is a viscous, sugary and aromatic substance that represents an excellent natural product, as well as a nutritious and healthy food, produced naturally by bees, and there are reports of it being the first sweetener used in the world. The geographic region where honey originates has a strong influence on the physical and chemical parameters of honey, altering everything from humidity and pH to ash and sugar, influencing both the quality of honey as a food and its medicinal qualities. Its therapeutic properties have also attracted the attention of consumers, who seek alternative forms of treatment. The use of honey in the treatment of diseases is very old, having been used as a medicine since ancient times, by civilizations such as the Greeks and Egyptians. Currently, it has been widely used in the treatment of inflammation, mainly in the form of syrup, but it has also proven effective in the treatment of other diseases such as infections and ulcers. Considering the increasing interest of the population in honey not only as a nutritional source, but also for its medicinal properties, the objective of this work was to review the literature on the physicochemical characteristics and therapeutic properties of honey. A better understanding of these therapeutic characteristics of honey can help in future applications of honey in both human and animal medicine, in addition to knowing its physicochemical characteristics can contribute to the quality of honey for use as food and therapeutics.