Honey-The Natural Sweetener become a Promising Alternative Therapeutic:A Review

To date, researchers pay more attention to medicines with natural origin and believe that natural products may be efficient therapeutics in comparison with the synthetic drugs. One of the most important natural products is honey. Honey has a very complex chemical composition that varies depending on the botanical source. It has been used both as food and medicine since ancient times. It has been reported to have an antimicrobial effect on many pathogenic microorganisms. Antioxidant capacity of honey is important in many disease conditions and is due to a wide range of compounds including phenolics, peptides, organic acids, enzymes. Honey also been reported as an alternative medicine for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, inflammatory states. It is also useful as anticancer, antidiabetic and weight management agent. Beside the medicinal values, it also acts as prebiotic compound and so it stimulates the growth of probiotics. This review covers the history, composition and some important medical uses of honey.