A research group at Nagoya City University, in collaboration with Beijing University, the National Institute of Natural Sciences, and the University of Toyama, is a granulocyte colony-stimulating factor that enhances immunity when honey is heat-treated at the optimum temperature and time. It was discovered that a substance having an action of inducing the production of G-CSF) was produced.
In traditional Chinese medicine, in order to enhance the function of crude drugs on the digestive tract, they are soaked in honey and then stir-fried.Previous studies have shown that this Chinese-style processing method can induce G-CSF production in gastrointestinal epithelial cells, and from this point, this study focused on the significance of heat processing using honey.
This time, it was found that when honey is heat-processed, a new effect of inducing G-CSF production from cultured gastrointestinal epithelial cells, which was not observed in unheat-processed honey, was found.It was also found that this action was highest at 180 ° C. for 1 hour, and that the activity decreased when heated for a longer time.
The research group then examined whether heat-processed honey exhibits immunostimulatory effects at the experimental animal level.Mice were bred with heat-processed honey orally administered once daily, and Streptococcus pyogenes was subcutaneously inoculated into the mice immediately after administration on the second day.As a result, a significant prolongation of life was observed in the mice fed with heat-processed honey, and all the other mice died by the second day of ingestion of the fungus.
This result suggests that ingestion of heat-processed honey may prevent bacterial infection.In the future, it is expected to develop functional foods using heat-processed honey for the purpose of preventing infectious diseases.
Paper information:[Journal of Ethonopharmacology] The Immunostimulant Effects and Chemical Characteristics of Heated Honey