Peroxide activity

Definition

When honey is diluted, glucose oxidase generates hydrogen peroxide, and that is responsible for most of the antibacterial activity measured in most honeys. Jarrah honey is marketed on an unusually high peroxide activity rating; manuka is marketed on the opposite property — activity that persists after peroxide is removed.

Where the word gets used loosely

Ratings based on peroxide activity are measured on a laboratory sample and decay with heat and time. They also say nothing about what happens after swallowing, since catalase in human tissue abolishes peroxide. A TA number on a jar is a measurement of the substance in a dish, not a prediction about the eater.

Honey records that discuss this

• Jarrah honeyDark, malty and caramelised, with a coffee-and-treacle depth and much less of the medicinal edge a comparably dark honey usually carries.