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Hadi, Hazrina, Omar, Syarifah and Awadh, Ammar
Honey, a Gift from Nature to Health and Beauty: A Review
Original Citation
Hadi, Hazrina, Omar, Syarifah and Awadh, Ammar (2016) Honey, a Gift from Nature to Health and
Beauty: A Review. British Journal of Pharmacy, 1 (1). ISSN 2058-8356
This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/30144/
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doi: 10.5920/bjpharm.2016.05
Hadi et al. (2016) Br J Pharm, 1, 46-54 46
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A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Benefits of honey are contributed by the composition of its elements such as
glucose, fructose, glucose oxidase, vitamins and phenolic compounds. For health,
honey can be used to treat wounds due to the antibacterial activity conferred by
the hydrogen peroxide produced by glucose oxidase in honey. Anti-inflammatory,
anti-oxidant, deodorizing and tissue regeneration activities in honey also help in
the wound healing process. It can also be an alternative sweetener for diabetic
patients to ensure compliance to a healthy diet. Moreover, honey exerts several
effects such as lowering low density lipids and increasing high density lipids, thus
reducing risk of atherosclerosis. In terms of beauty, honey can be used on skin and
hair. It moisturizes skin through its natural humectant properties contributed by
high contents of fructose and glucose. Honey treats acne on the skin due to its
antibacterial activity, anti-inflammatory action and tissue repair. The hair can
benefit from honey in such a way that the hair has abundance, and becomes easier
to comb. However, there have not been as many studies regarding the use of
honey in skin in comparison to its use for health. Therefore, future studies on
honey could research its use, action and benefits in both cosmetics and
dermatology.
Open Access 2016 – University of Huddersfield Press
INTRODUCTION
Honey was known and used by human since a very
long time ago. A discovery of a rock painting, the
Man of Bicorp, was made in 1921 in Cueva de la
Arana (Spider Cave) in Valencia, Spain. The
painting is believed to date back around 15000 years
which would be near the end of the Palaeolithic era.
This painting displays a human figure near a
beehive, and in the picture he is depicted picking up
honeycombs. Hence, the picture of the Man of
Bicorp proves that pre-historic man was using
honey as a part of his diet although he faced
challenges in gathering honey. However, we do not
know if there was any other use of honey in terms
of medicinal purposes at that time (Hajar 2002).
In addition to that, archaeologists also found a
painting in a Neolithic shrine at Catal Huyuk in
Anatolia which dated far back to around 700 BC.
The painting had flower-like patterns, parallel wavy
lines and winged insects. These patterns were then
interpreted as the life cycle of the bee in a
honeycomb (Crane 2013). Uses of honey during that
era there were as a natural sweetener, to treat
wounds (Ajibola et al. 2012), to use its wax for
painting (Petukhova and Bonadies 1993) embalming
bodies, binders for ships and boats (Hajar 2002) and
cosmetics (Burlando and Cornara 2013).
Critical Review
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A few thousand years back, honey was mentioned
frequently in Greek and Egyptian mythology. In
Greek mythology, it is said that Zeus, who is one of
the mightiest gods, was hidden from his evil father
and was raised on milk and honey to the point that
he became so strong and tough that he took the
throne from his father (Cook 1895). Honey was also
believed to be the food of gods and goddesses that
contributed to their immortal life (Lavazaro 2009).
On the other hand, in Egyptian mythology, honey
was used as an offering to the gods to show
devotion and worship. Jars of honey were found in
the tombs of Pharaohs as it was also believed to be
sustenance for the next life (Hajar 2002).
Formation of Honey
Honey is made by bees in a beehive. Each bee hive
consists of one queen bee, 500 to 1000 drones and
30000 to 60000 workers. The queen is the only
female that is sexually developed in the hive
(Townsend and Lucas, 1940; Mullen 2015). The main
role of the queen is to lay eggs after mating with the
drones. Drones are sexually developed males that
lack stingers and their sole purpose in the bee hive
is to mate with the queen. During mating, the queen
receives millions of sperm that may last her entire
lifetime (Page and Metcalf 1982). The normal
lifespan of a queen is about 3–4 years. On the other
hand, the drones die not long after mating
(Ediriweera and Premarathna 2012).
Finally, the worker bees are the sexually
underdeveloped females which do all the jobs in the
hive such as collecting nectar, caring for larvae,
cleaning the nursery and making wax comb. They
collect nectar from flowers, and later, in the hive,
they will ingest and regurgitate the nectar many
times until it is partially digested and reaches a
certain level of quality (Mullen 2015). Next, the
nectar will be stored in the honeycomb and left
unsealed for drying as the raw honey is composed
of a high amount of water. The drying process is
done by the worker bees that fan their wings to
assist evaporation of water. Afterwards, the
honeycomb is sealed with wax in order to preserve
the honey (Ediriweera and Premarathna 2012).
This honey has a long shelf-life and will not ferment
if properly sealed (Ediriweera and Premarathna
2012). Honey consists of several enzymes from the
hypopharyngeal glands of the worker bees such as
invertase, amylase and glucose oxidase (Weirich et
al. 2002). Glucose oxidase oxidizes glucose to
gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen
peroxide is the component of honey that stabilizes
ripening honey from spoilage (Jeffrey and
Echazarreta 1996).
Composition of Honey
The constituents of honey can vary depending upon
the source of the nectar. However, the major
constituents remain constant. These constituents are
listed in Table 1 (Jeffrey and Echazarreta 1996).
Table 1. The average composition of honey. Data was collected
from 490 samples of US honey (Jeffrey and Echazarreta, 1996)
Component Average
%
Moisture
17.2
Fructose
38.19
Glucose
31.28
Sucrose
1.31
Disaccharides, calculated as maltose
7.31
Higher sugars
1.50
Free acid as gluconic
0.43
Lactone as gluconolactone
0.14
Total acid as gluconic
0.57
Ash
0.17
Nitrogen
0.04
Carbohydrate is the predominant solid
(approximately 95% of total solid content) in honey.
The main carbohydrates present in honey are
glucose and fructose (Busserolles et al. 2002). In
adition to glucose and fructose several other sugar
have been identified including isomaltose, nigerose,
turanose, maltulose; kojibiose; alpha beta-trehalose,
gentiobiose, laminaribiose, maltotriose, 1-kestose,
panose, isomaltosyl glucose, erlose,
isomaltosyltriose, theanderose, centose, isopanose,
isomaltosyltetraose and isomaltosylpentaose
(Jeffrey and Echazarreta 1996). Therefore, honey is
actually a complex mixture of sugar which is in an
immediately digestible form (Ferreira et al. 2009)
Gluconic acid is the product of the enzyme glucose
oxidase on glucose (Molan 1992). There are also
several other enzymes present in honey which can
be divided into two categories, namely enzymes
originating from the hypopharyngeal gland of
worker honeybees and enzymes originating from
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plants. Invertase, glucose oxidase, amylase, catalase
and acid phosphatase are enzymes from worker
honeybees’ hypopharyngeal gland. The enzymes
from plants include catalase and acid phosphatase
and a small amount of amylase (Jeffrey and
Echazarreta 1996). The enzyme glucose oxidase is of
particular interest as it produces hydrogen peroxide
which is a chemical that can exert antibacterial
activity (Dustmann, 1979).
Furthermore, there are wide variety of vitamins
present in honey such as vitamin B6, thiamin,
cyanocobalamin, folic acid, vitamin C, riboflavin,
pantothenic acid, ascorbic acid and many more
(Ciulu et al. 2011). Not only that, there are also
several essential mineral contents namely calcium,
copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus,
potassium, sodium and zinc as well as several
different amino acids (Mullen and Thomson 2015)
such as proline, phenyalanine and aspartic acid
(Busserolle et al. 2002; Mullen and Thomson 2015).
Honey also contains some components which have
antioxidant properties (Jeffrey and Echazarreta
1996; Gheldof et al. 2002) namely chrysin,
pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase and pinocembrin
(Mullen and Thomson 2015). There is a linear
relationship between the level of phenolic acid and
antioxidant activity. P-coumaric acid was found to
be the most dominant phenolic acid in honey thus
having the highest antioxidant activity (Socha et al.
2011). The function of antioxidant properties is to
slow down the oxidative damage of the cells and
tissue in our body.
Types of Honey
There are not only different species of bees, but
there also different types of honey. However, each
different type of honey depends on the floral source
from which the bees collect the nectar (Burlando
and Cornara 2013; Singh et al. 2012). Different types
of honey include acacia, manuka and buckwheat
(Ranzato et al. 2012). The most popular and widely
used honeys are acacia and manuka honey. Acacia
honey originates from black locust (Robinia
pseudoacacia L.), and it has received much attention
in the cosmetic field. On the other hand, manuka
honey is more popular from a dermatological
aspect, especially in wound healing, as it has
significant antibacterial activity (Molan 2002). The
differences between these honeys are not only
composition-wise but can also been seen through
micrographs as they have different shapes when
observe under microscopes as well (Burlando and
Cornara 2013).
HONEY FOR HEALTH AND BEAUTY
Honey for Health
Wound Dressing
A wound is an injury to living tissue caused by a
cut, blow or other impact, typically one in which the
skin is cut or broken. When there are bacteria in the
wound, the wound can become infected. The extent
of harmful effect that can occur depends on the
patient’s immune system, number of bacteria
introduced and also type of bacteria introduced
(Abbas et al. 2015). There are several stages of
infection process which starts with contamination
(Baranoski and Ayello 2008). The next stage is
colonization, which refers to the multiplication of
the bacteria but without any tissue damage. Finally
this leads to infection, where the bacteria multiply,
wound tissues are damaged, healing is delayed and
the patient may acquire systemic infections (Abbas
et al. 2015). Various research studies have stated
that honey can be used in wound management. This
is due to certain properties that promote wound
healing and also reduce bacterial infection (Molan
1999).
One of the most important properties that make
honey a good wound healing therapy is its
antibacterial property (Molan 1992). The
antibacterial property of honey comes from
hydrogen peroxide which is produced from the
enzyme glucose oxidase. Glucose oxidase induces
the production of hydrogen peroxide in the honey
(Ciulu et al. 2011). Hydrogen peroxide will enhance
the production of cytokines for the inflammatory
response to kill the bacteria. The enzyme glucose
oxidase is added to the nectar by honeybees, and
the antibacterial activity varies depending on the
floral source (Molan 1992; Molan 1999; Leigh 2008).
As hydrogen peroxide is a reactive oxygen species,
its antibacterial action occurs through damaging the
cell structure of the bacteria (Brudzynski 2006). The
damaging action highly depends on the
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concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the honey
(Brudzynski 2006; Finnegan et al. 2010).
Hydrogen peroxide alone is found not to be
effective in treating wounds. This is because it is
only effective at high concentration, but the wound
healing properties is limited by its own protein and
tissue damaging effect at high concentration
(Mohamed et al. 2012). When honey is diluted, the
enzyme producing hydrogen peroxide becomes
active. This gives honey its slow release properties
of hydrogen peroxide (Brudzynski 2006). Thus,
honey is able to continually produce hydrogen
peroxide at a steady rate (Molan 1999).
Furthermore, another important property of honey
is as an antioxidant. The antioxidant property of
honey comes from phenolic compounds,
carotenoid-like compounds and amino acids (Socha
et al. 2011). This property is useful in neutralizing
free radicals produced by the action of hydrogen
peroxide thus protecting tissue from damage (Socha
et al. 2011; Molan 1999). Moreover, honey also
possesses an anti-inflammatory action which is
exerted by the antioxidant property (Molan 1999).
Free radicals are involved in inflammation;
therefore, when the free radicals are reduced, the
inflammatory cells are also reduced, hence soothing
the pain (Weissenstein et al. 2014).
Deodorizing action is another ability of honey in
wound management (Leigh 2008). When infecting
bacteria metabolize amino acids from protein and
necrotic tissue, ammonia, amines and sulphur
compounds are produced (Mohamed et al. 2012).
These compounds are the cause of odour. The odour
is removed by honey due to its high content of
glucose, which can be metabolized by the infecting
bacteria (Molan 1999). Metabolized glucose will
produce lactic acid instead of the compounds that
gives out malodour. Not only that, honey is a
viscous fluid that has high osmolarity (Molan 1992).
Due to this fact, it is able to bond with the water
molecules, hence reducing the water available for
bacterial growth (Weissenstein et al. 2014). In other
words, honey’s high osmolarity exerts bacteriostatic
action as it inhibits the growth of bacteria.
Many studies have also stated that honey can
stimulate tissue growth (Molan 1999; Leigh 2008;
Weissenstein et al. 2014). There are a few theories on
how honey can stimulate tissue growth or
epithelialization. Firstly, there is the presence of
hydrogen peroxide at low concentration which can
stimulate fibroblast formation (Mohamed et al.
2012). Secondly, there is the effect of honey’s high
osmolarity (Molan 1992). It can draw lymph fluid
(from the wound), which is dissolved with
nutrients, and can help tissue regeneration (Molan
1999). Morever, honey can regenerate tissue due to
its own contents which include different types of
essential nutrients (Weissenstein et al. 2014).
Another theory is that acidification of the wound
may enhance healing (Mohamed et al. 2012) and
stimulate tissue growth (Leigh 2008). It is known
that honey has a pH of 3 to 4 which is acidic (Molan
1999).
Honey able to debride a wound at a fast rate and
replace the sluff with granulation tissue (Anderson
et al. 1995). Throughout the course of healing,
granulation tissue which consists of connective
tissue and small blood vessels forms on the surface
of the wound. A few experiments have shown that
with the use of honey on wounds, healthy
granulation tissue and epithelization were present
(Leigh 2008; Bahrami et al. 2009; Mohamed et al.
2012). It is suggested that this situation occurs due
to hydrogen peroxide or the acidity of honey which
can promote angiogenesis (Mohamed et al. 2012).
Another theory suggested as to why honey can help
in tissue repair concerns the composition of honey
itself which consists of several nutrients and
vitamins which may help stimulate growth of new
tissue (Mohamed et al. 2012). However, honey has
some cytotoxicity effects as well, as it induces the
expression of cytokines and matrix
metalloproteinase 9 which degrades collagen.
Fortunately, the level of this cytotoxicity is
extremely low (Ranzato et al. 2012).
Honey for Treatment of Acne
Due to the properties of honey as antibacterial,
antioxidant and tissue growth promoter, it has been
found that honey also can be used to treat acne.
Acne occurs due to excess production of sebum
which later on gets infected with Propionibacterium
acnes, thus leading to the inflammatory stage
(Anderson et al. 1995; Sabry 2009). Honey can be an
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alternative treatment for acne as it has several
properties that can fight the root causes of acne.
The most prominent property of all is the
antibacterial property of honey (Molan 1992; Jeffrey
1996; Molan 1999). There are three main factors that
contribute to the antibacterial property which are
osmotic effect, acidity and hydrogen peroxide
(Burlando and Cornara 2013).
Honey is a viscous saturated liquid that has very
low water content (Weissenstein et al. 2014). That
being so, honey has an osmotic effect which makes
it able to interact with water strongly, leaving
insufficient water for the microorganism, which in
this case is Propionibacterium acnes to survive (Molan
1992). There was a study done that suggested an
alternative treatment for acne by acting on the
environment of the bacteria itself. This study
hypothesized that the limiting nutrient for
Propionibacterium acnes in the pilosebaceous gland is
water (Holt and Cole 2014). Hence, in order to
prevent microbial growth, the water available to
microorganisms should be reduced.
Furthermore, the effect of honey’s low pH as
antibacterial has been mentioned in a few studies,
although there has been no clear proof that it does
affect microbial growth (Molan 1999). Another
contributing factor for the antibacterial property of
honey is the release of hydrogen peroxide by the
enzyme glucose oxidase (Brudzynski 2006) as
previously described.
As well as being able to deal with acne through its
antibacterial property, honey also has an anti-
inflammatory action that may help as well (Ajibola
et al. 2012). Inflammation in the acne may lead to
serous exudates which would be conducive for
bacteria to colonize (Anderson et al. 1995). When
this happens, the infection would be worse. Honey
has several antioxidant contents that can act as
scavengers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Molan
1999). The reduction of ROS will reduce
inflammation because ROS are one of the
components of inflammation. According to Gheldof
et al., a darker colour of honey indicates a higher
content of phenolic compounds which means that it
has higher radical scavenging activity, hence higher
antioxidant activity as well (Gheldof et al. 2002).
Finally, honey has been said to be involved in tissue
repair. A dead or damaged tissue is removed when
a wound heals and is later replaced with a new
layer of skin with the help of honey (Singh 2012).
The action of honey as tissue repair promoter is as
described previously in the previous subheading;
wound dressing.
Role of Honey in Diabetes
Diabetes is divided into two main types which are
Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes
accounts for about 5%–10% of diabetes. The cause of
type 1 diabetes is cellular-mediated autoimmune
destruction of the β-cells of the pancreas. On the
other hand, Type 2 diabetes can be due to a variety
of causes which in the end will lead to insulin
resistance or insulin deficiency. The prevalence of
Type 2 diabetes is 90%–95% (Harvey and Ferrier
2011a). Diabetes usually managed by changes to a
low glucose diet. However, there should be an
alternative to sugar as a sweetener to ensure
patients’ compliance (Jeffrey 1996). Therefore, honey
is one of the proposed alternative sweeteners for
diabetes patients.
There have been many discussions on whether
honey is beneficial or not for diabetes patients.
Several studies have proved that honey can be
beneficial to diabetes patients. The first reason is
highly dependent on the composition of honey
itself. Honey’s major component is carbohydrates,
mainly glucose and fructose (Busserolles et al. 2002).
Fructose is slowly absorbed from the
gastrointestinal tract compared to glucose which
makes its metabolism, insulin independent
(Donadieu, 1982). Blood sugar level also rises
minimally after fructose intake as it is taken up by
the liver rapidly (Bahrami et al. 2009).
A few studies have shown that honey has a low
glycaemic index (GI) and peak incremental index
(PII) (Deibert et al. 2010; Abdulrhman et al. 2011).
Both GI and PII are the measures on the effects of
food on the blood glucose level. In comparison to
sucrose and glucose, honey has a lower GI and PII
in both healthy and diabetic subjects (Abdulrhman
et al. 2011). However, the GI and PII differ between
different types of honey based on different floral
sources. The higher the fructose–glucose ratio of a
type of honey, the lower is its GI (Deibert et al.
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Hadi et al. (2016) Br J Pharm, 1, 46-54 51
2010). Low GI diet can improve overall glycaemic
control and also reduce postprandial
hyperglycaemia (Abdulrhman et al. 2011).
Honey increases C-peptide levels in non-diabetic
patients, yet it does not increase significantly in
diabetic patients (Abdulrhman et al. 2011). Honey
may have a direct stimulatory effect on healthy β-
cells, but its effect on defective β-cells is still unsure.
Further study needs to be done to understand the
effect of honey consumption on C-peptide levels of
diabetic patients. C-peptide is a marker for insulin
secretion as it is co-secreted with insulin as a by-
product of proinsulin conversion into insulin
(Harvey and Ferrier 2011b).
However, some studies state that most of the
fructose will be converted into glucose (Donadieu
1982), thus increasing the rate of absorption and
proceeding to an insulin dependent metabolism.
Other than that, another detrimental effect
mentioned is that fructose is one of the components
involved in the formation of atheroma (Donadieu
1982). Hence, intake of honey will enhance the
formation of atheroma and lead to further vascular
complications (Cannizzo et al. 2013). Although,
fructose intake may be associated with speeding up
the formation of atheroma, this is only true when
the intake of fructose is high. However, this is not
the case with diabetic patients. Even though honey
is an alternative sweetener, the intake allowed will
be limited as honey also contains glucose.
Conclusively, there will be no problem of high
fructose intake with honey consumption in diabetes
patients.
Other than being an alternative sweetener, honey
has some positive effects which may even possibly
allow honey to act as a supplement for diabetic
patients. A randomized clinical trial was done in
order to assess the effects of natural honey
consumption in diabetic patients. The results of the
study showed that there was a decrease in body
weight, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein
(LDL) and triglyceride, and also an increase of high
density lipoprotein (HDL) (Bahrami et al. 2009).
LDL is bad cholesterol which causes the formation
of plaque on the walls of arteries which can clog the
arteries and reduce their elasticity. In contrast, HDL
is good cholesterol which assists in the removal of
LDL (Romain et al. 2014). Consequently, honey is
helpful in preventing the formation of plaque in the
blood vessels, thus preventing complications such
as atherosclerosis in diabetic patients.
The antioxidant agent in honey is speculated to be
the compound that is responsible for both weight
and blood cholesterol reduction based on past
studies that discovered the blood cholesterol
lowering effect of antioxidants (Hemmati et al.
2015). Nonetheless, a negative point discovered is
that honey intake increases the level of haemoglobin
A1c which is a measure of blood sugar levels over a
long period of time (Bahrami et al. 2009). Regardless
of the increase in haemoglobin A1c, honey intake is
still beneficial to diabetic patients, but it should be
taken cautiously.
Honey for Beauty
Skin
Honey as Moisturizer
Skin is the largest organ and it is the outermost
layer of the human body. For that reason, it requires
a great amount of care to prevent diseases such as
infections, dermatitis or even dehydration. Many
research studies have found that honey has an
abundance of uses in protecting and also healing the
skin. This contribution is mainly due to the
composition of honey which consists of many
minerals, vitamins, phytocompounds and enzymes
(Burlando and Cornara 2013).
Moisturizers are topical products of various
formulations applied to the skin in order to retain
moisture (Burlando and Cornara 2013). They are
used to prevent and treat dry skin, and, on top of
that, they can also keep the skin supple and enhance
the natural barrier function of the skin (Eady et al.
2013). Several different formulations of moisturizers
include barrier cream, emollients, lotions and
ointment. The use of a moisturizer largely depends
on the age, skin type and pre-existing conditions of
the skin such as acne.
The common ingredients of a moisturizer include
emollients, humectants and other ingredients. Past
research found out that honey can be used as a
moisturizer for the skin. The ability of honey to act
as a moisturizer comes from its natural humectant
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Hadi et al. (2016) Br J Pharm, 1, 46-54 52
properties (Eady et al. 2013). Though, the exact
mechanism is unknown, it is believed that the
humectant property is contributed by the high
content of glucose and fructose in honey. Both
fructose and glucose can form hydrogen bridges
with water, retaining the moisture in the horny skin
layer thus providing a hydrating effect to the skin
(Burlando and Cornara 2013).
The hydrating effect of honey not only comes from
the high content of fructose and glucose, but it may
also be derived from the various amino acids
(predominantly proline, but also arginine, alanine,
glutamic acid, aspartic acid, lysine, glycine and
leucine) and organic acid (largely gluconic acid and,
to a certain extent, lactic, citric, succinic, formic,
malic, acetic, maleic and oxalic acids) that can
augment the effect of glucose and fructose in
retaining moisture in the horny skin layer (Burlando
and Cornara 2013). Unfortunately, there has only
been a minute amount of study to really assess the
moisturizing effects of honey on the skin. Therefore,
for future research, testing and assessing how honey
gives this hydrating effect is highly suggested, to
understand its advantage and disadvantage when
used as a moisturizer.
Hair
Healthy hair is characterized as being pigmented,
soft, smooth, glossy and flexible yet strong enough
to be able to withstand shearing forces such as
friction (Greenwood and Handsaker 2012). This
structural and physical characteristic of hair
depends on its structure which consists of cuticles
and cortex (Sinclair 2007). The strength of hair
depends on the cortex while the gloss depends on
the cuticles (Robbins and Crawford 1991).
The cortex is surrounded by a multilayer of cuticles
which regulates the penetration of water in and out
of the cortex (Wolfram and Lindemann 1971;
Madnani and Khan 2013). There are several layers
of cuticles from the outermost layer, which are the
epicuticle, the A layer, the exocuticle/B layer and
the endocuticle (Robbins and Crawford 1991). The
epicuticle layer is the first line of defence against
water. Directly below it is the A layer which is high
in cysteine. The thiol group of cysteine will undergo
oxidation and form a disulfide bridge which is
responsible for the cuticle strength and rigidity. The
next two layers have less cysteine making them
much softer especially the endocuticle layer. The
endocuticle layer also consists of a protein which is
responsible for absorbing water hence allowing
change in the physical property of the hair. Cuticles
that are intact and well organized are a very
important indication of good and healthy hair
(Madnani and Khan 2013).
The cortex which lies beneath the cuticles has a
stronger disulfide bridge than the cuticle thus
providing the hair with its ultimate shape (Paus and
Cotsarelis 1999). Not only that, hydrogen bonds and
van der Waal bonds are also present in this layer for
the purpose of wetting. Most importantly this layer
has melanosomes which are gravely important in
determining the individual hair colour. The hair
colour is based on the presence of eumelanin (red)
or pheomelanin (black/brown). The core of the hair
fibre which is located immediately below the cortex
is the medulla. This layer is unique as it is only
present in thick dark hair and not in grey aging hair
(Chikvaidze et al. 2014).
Hair damage can easily occur due to lack of care,
environmental factors such as excessive UV
exposure, excessive wetting and also chemical
procedures done to the hair (Marsh et al. 2015). One
of the ways to protect the hair is by washing the
hair. Studies done have proven that shampoos and
conditioners containing honey give a beneficial
effect in helping keep the hair in a good and healthy
condition (Paus and Cotsarelis 1999). One of the
benefits is that honey penetrates deep into the hair
shaft and mends the hair’s flexibility and elasticity
(Burlando and Cornara 2013). Research was done to
compare hair washing using two products, one of
which contained honey. This study concluded that
honey is able to confer abundance to the hair,
maintains the wave and in addition to that
lubricates the hair for ease of combing (Borcllorst
1978).
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the various uses of honey have been
proven to date back as far as 700 BC. Research has
discovered that honey has been used to promote
health in men, specifically in treating wounds and
also as a supplement or alternative sweetener for
diabetic patients. Beauty-wise, honey has been
doi: 10.5920/bjpharm.2016.05
Hadi et al. (2016) Br J Pharm, 1, 46-54 53
found to have good effects on the skin and hair.
Honey is a possible treatment for acne, and it can
act as a moisturizer as well. Honey also has anti-
inflammatory effects contributed by antioxidants,
and it can aid in tissue repair and reduce scarring.
Moreover, honey’s high content of fructose and
glucose is proven to give a hydrating effect to the
skin besides the various amino acids present. This
hydrating effect helps to moisturize the skin and
keep it supple. In terms of hair treatment, honey
confers abundance to the hair and also makes the
hair easier to comb. Though there have been a lot of
discoveries regarding the use of honey, there are
still other avenues on the use of honey that could be
considered in future studies. Not only that, further
studies on established uses of honey should be done
in order to prove and compare the findings with
recent ones. Specifically, the exact effect of how
honey confers its moisturizing effect has not been
studied deeply. The action of honey in hair that
confers abundance and easy combing is also
something that has not been mentioned in present
studies. Hopefully, future studies could study the
action and use of honey even further especially in
the fields of cosmetics and dermatology.
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