Turkish Mad Honey Is It Useful or Dangerous? We can answer Useful but Dangerous too
Turkish Mad honey or Deli Bal in Turkish which is also referred to as bitter honey has usually reddish-brown color with unusual sharp and biting taste which is irritating to throat.
In fact, Turkish Mad Honey is used in treatment of gastric pains, bowel disorders, hypertension and diabetic mellitus.It is also used as sexual stimulant
But when consumed in average of 5-30 g, mad honey causes intoxication . Sudden severe vertigo, visual disorders, hypotension, bradycardia,respiratory depression and altered mental status are the most frequently seen symptoms .
Intoxication is caused by the grayanatoxin content of the flowers which honey is produced,
also called andromedatoxin, acetylandromedol or rhodotoxin.
Turkish Mad honey ( Deli Bal ) intoxication was first described in 401 BC by Xenophon, an Athenian author and military commander.In this report, he mentioned that soldiers who ate mad honey belonging to coastal Black Sea region (according to the amount of honey) had some characteristics such as drunken man, vomiting,diarrhea, and crazy or dying man . No one had died after eating Turkish mad honey ( Deli Bal ) . They began to regain consciousness within 24 h and at the end of 3-4 days, they completely recovered.
Turkish Mad honey ( Deli Bal ) is produced by Rhododendron flowers belonging to Ericacea family found in various places such as Turkey, China,Nepal, Myanmar, New Guinea, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines and North America . Although grayanotoxin producing plants are found in different countries, mad honey production may be not enough in all mentioned countries due to the fact that flowers with toxic content may not be present with great density.
Original source of Turkish mad honey ( Deli Bal ) is usually based on Black Sea region of Turkey or Nepal . The genus Rhododendron is usually represented by Rhododendron ponticum, R. luteum,R. ungernii, R. smirnovii and R. caucasicum in Turkey .Rhododendron luteum (Rhododendron flavum) and R. Ponticum are mostly found toxic species in Turkey.
Due to the rapid transport and increasing interest of natural honey products,honey poisoning may turned out to be a global issue . On the other hand, it is reported that mad honey is more toxic in spring season and sometimes include more grayanotoxin content than produced in other seasons . The grayanotoxins are neurotoxins that leading an increase in the membrane
permeability of Na channels and hyperpolarization in activation potential.
Grayanotoxins are diterpenes that have 18 types of grayanatoxins . Grayanatoxin 1-IV is unique class of toxic diterpenoids among these types and grayanatoxin III (GIII) is the
main toxic isomer, G1 and GII are other toxic compounds . On the other hand grayanatoxin II is less toxic when compared to type 1 and III. While grayanatoxin 1 are responsible for cardiac effects, grayanatoxin III causes arrhythmia. The intoxication is rarely fatal and generally lasts for no more than 24 hours due to the metabolization and excretion are completed within 24 h .
Turkish Mad Honey Is It Useful or Dangerous we can say if you eat it little dosages its very useful .
