What is MGO?
MGO stands for methylglyoxal, the naturally occurring compound that makes Manuka honey so special. MGO is one of the bioactive marker found in Manuka honey.
So what are the differences between UMF and MGO?
We always see MGO or UMF of Mānuka honey on the New Zealand manuka Honey. It always puzzle the customer what is actual difference between MGO and UMF, what the letters stand for, and what honey producers mean by them.
What is UMF ?
“The UMF™ grading system appraises natural markers found in Mānuka honey, and assures purity & quality. The rating is called UMF™, which stands for Unique Manuka Factor
The UMF™ rating incorporates the measurement of methylglyoxal MGO levels and additional testing of authenticity markers of the Manuka Honey, this includes dihydroxyacetone and leptosperin. UMF is an indicator of quality and purity of genuine Mānuka honey from New Zealand.
The UMF™ quality trade mark shows that a product has been tested by an independent laboratory which has confirmed it contains these signature compounds. The vendors need to pass all the rigourous requirememt by UMF association of New zealnd to obtain the license and able to declare that they are UMF certified manuka honey.
Many of manuka honey are adding totally fictitious numbers to their labels like 15+, 16+ 20+ 25+ etc. Unless these numbers are accompanied with the UMF trademark and the UMFHA licence number they are totally meaningless.
Manuka Honey UMF 5+, 10+, 15+ Ratings – What Do the Numbers Mean?
The number actually mean the strength of the antibacterial activities within the honey. The UMF grade manuka honey will have been tested by an accredited laboratory to determine its strength and that is indicated by the UMF number shown on the jar. The higher the number the more anti bacterial properties within the honey, the faster and more completely the honey will kill bacteria, viruses & microbes. Anything under 10+ is considered to be non therapeutic like UMF 5+ . it more for daily health maintainace. Thus, if you have a specific problem you need to tackle, you need to get a high number like 10+ and 15+ .
Therefore to be certain that you are purchasing Manuka honey with a dependable certification of its antimicrobial activity it should carry the UMF trademark preceding the number for example UMF 10+ ,15+, UMF 20+ etc, it should also carry the UMF Honey Association licence number (in our case Aoraki Peak 3006 , Jade valley 2306) and it should have been packed in New Zealand.
