Mad honey
Rhododendron ponticum, R. luteum
Honey from rhododendron flowers contains grayanotoxins. Small amounts are used in local tradition; larger amounts cause poisoning.
- Origin
- Turkey (Black Sea coast)
- Colour
- 80 mm · light amber
- Taste
- bitter, sharp
- Crystallization
- slow
- Plant
- Rhododendron ponticum, R. luteum · rhododendron →
Colour varies by year and place; the value given is typical.
Xenophon described Greek soldiers poisoned by this honey in 401 BC in his Anabasis.
More honeys
Sidr honeyYemen (Hadramaut), Saudi Arabia
Longan honeyTaiwan, northern Thailand, southern China
Black cumin honeyTurkey (Burdur province)
Gelam honeyMalaysia (Terengganu)
Kelulut honeyMalaysia
Nilgiri wild honeyNilgiri Hills (Tamil Nadu, India)
Goji honeynorth-western China (Ningxia, Qinghai)
Bingöl BalıBingöl Province (Eastern Anatolia, Turkey)
Sources
- Jansen S. A. a kol. (2012): Grayanotoxin poisoning: ‘mad honey disease’ and beyond. Cardiovascular Toxicology 12, 208–215.