UWA Honey
A special gift from UWA’s beautiful gardens …
This UWA Honey is a unique product that cannot be purchased from anywhere. It has been harvested by UWA’s resident beekeeper Tiffany Bates and is the precious product of the tireless work of thousands of bees residing at UWA’s research apiary site.
Did you know that a single bee produces only about 625 mg of honey over its lifespan? Every day it visits up to 2000 flowers to collect nectar. So bees not only produce honey, they also play an extremely important role as pollinators!
UWA's Honey is a Multi-floral Honey
The nectar for this particular honey has been collected mostly from UWA’s beautiful grounds with its rich flora. The honey is therefore a multi-floral honey. This is different to so-called monofloral honeys, which predominately come from one specific floral source, such as Jarrah, Marri or Manuka honey.
Did You Know?
UWA is a hub for Bee and Honeybee Product Research
You might not be aware, but UWA is a hub for bee and honeybee product research. The Honey Research Lab at the Division of Pharmacy has been buzzing with activity over the past years, developing a wide range of novel analytical methods to capture the complexity and the many health benefits of this precious natural product.
Honey Nectar Source Authentication Through HPTLC Fingerprinting
One key feature has been the development of a novel analytical technique, HPTLC fingerprinting, to authenticate a honey’s nectar source and to assist beekeepers with quality control.
What you see on your honey jar (and pictured above) is the visual representation of the HPTLC fingerprint of the UWA Honey generated by the technique. This visual signature is unique for the honey and reflective of its nectar sources.
Honey from different floral Origins will have Different Fingerprints
A honey from a different floral origin will have a different fingerprint, which means that the technique can be used to authenticate monofloral honeys and to ensure that the chemical composition of the honey is similar from batch to batch.
This is important as honey does not only taste delicious, it also possesses a range of health benefits, such as antibacterial and antioxidant activity. In fact, depending on the floral source of the honey these bioactivities might differ and it is therefore important to confirm the honey’s floral origin.
The Honey Research Lab at the Division of Pharmacy has fingerprinted more than 500 (Western) Australian honeys and has generated a wealth of information on these precious and unique natural products.
Y-Trace
We now even have a honey testing lab in Yanchep - Y-Trace - which is the only commercial facility in Australia dedicated to the quality control of honey and other honeybee products. They offer a range of tests, including the HPTLC fingerprinting technique developed by UWA’s honey research lab!
HPTLC fingerprints of iconic monofloral WA honeys
Below you can see HPTLC fingerprints of some iconic monofloral WA honeys. Note how each fingerprint differs, reflective of its specific floral origin. So next time you buy honey, watch out for a HPTLC fingerprint and if available, scan the QR code to learn more about the honey and its floral origin.
