Mad honey comes from a group of plant-produced neurotoxins named after Leucothoe grayana, a plant native to Japan. Grayanotoxins can cause hallucinations and severe health effects. They're found in garden plants. Leaves, roots, flowers, pollen and nectar are toxic.
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Common plants containing grayanotoxin are the rhododendrons, including azalea. The first grayanotoxins were found in the Japanese plant Leucothoe grayana, also called doghobble.
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Mad honey is made from plants in the Ericaceae family. It has a somewhat bitter taste and may have a reddish color tones. Several types of rhododendron, including Rhododendron luteum and R. ponticum, contain grayanotoxin.
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Rhododendron is the national flower of Nepal. It's also the state flower of Washington and West Virginia in the US, the state flower of Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh in India, provincial flower of Jiangxi in China and the state tree of Sikkim and Uttarakhand in India.
Most species have brightly colored flowers which bloom from late winter through to early summer, or throughout the local growing season. Azaleas (below) make up two subgenera of Rhododendron.
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Depending on species plants can be deciduous or evergreen. In regions such as Turkey and Nepal they're used for folk medicine and recreational purposes. In Nepal the honey hunt is a regular event.
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Grayanotoxins are produced by the rhododendrons and other plants in the family Ericaceae. Honey from of the plants also contains grayanotoxins and is known colloquially as mad honey.
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Mad honey intoxication appears in records from Xenophon, Aristotle, Strabo, Pliny the Elder and Columella. All report sickness from eating "maddening" honey made from pollen or nectar of Rhododendron luteum and R. ponticum.
Medicinal benefits of mad honey include:
lower blood pressure
energy
treatment of impotence or related ailments
Mad honey is among the most expensive honey in the world. It sells for $60 to $80 US dollars a pound on black markets of some Asian countries.
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The leaves, nectar, pollen and flowers of the plants are poisonous. Serious and life-threatening levels of toxicity can happen when people purposely eat the plant.
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The Japanese plant Leucothoe grayana has bell-shaped flowers 4 - 20 mm (up to 0.7 in) long, in clusters of white or pink. Flower clusters are especially attractive to pollenating insects like bees and butterflies due to easy access of multiple blossoms.
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Grayanotoxin gets its name from 19th century American botanist Asa Gray, who travels the world to study and collect plant specimens. Grayanotoxin is also known as:
andromedotoxin
acetylandromedol
rhodotoxin
asebotoxin
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Ingestion of the plant or any of its products, including honey, can cause grayanotoxin poisoning. It's also known as mad honey disease, honey intoxication or rhododendron poisoning.
In Turkey and Nepal plants bearing the toxin are consumed for recreational and medical purposes. Depending on the amount ingested, reactions can range from hallucinations and slow heartbeat to paralysis and unconsciousness.
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While not all rhododendrons produce grayanotoxins, this one does. Rhododendron ponticum is abundant on the mountains of the eastern Black Sea area of Turkey, the home of Bronze Age mountain raiders such as the Kaska (Kashka, Kaskians).
R. ponticum is recorded in association with honey poisoning since 401 BCE but is effects are probably known earlier. According to botanical archaeology, rhododendrons appear in the world 55 million - 68 million years ago, right after the Age of Dinosaurs.
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An early account of mad honey poisoning is by Xenophon of Athens who describes a company of Greek soldiers in 401 BCE passing through Turkey. After eating honey stolen from beehives along the route, they experience such symptoms as
vomiting,
diarrhea
disorientation
inability to stand
They're fine the next day. Similar reports come from the port of Sinope on the south Black Sea Coast. Modern consumers also describe such effects from mad honey.
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In 69 BCE the army of Pompey the Great falls for a trick by local forces, who leave honey along the marching route. Pompey's troops eat the honey. When the madness takes effect the defenders attack and kill the intoxicated soldiers.
Toxic species are also native to the United States. Grayanotoxin poisoning can cause:
excess salivation
nasal discharge
sweating
tingling sensations
headache
depression
weakness
abdominal pain
nausea & vomiting
diarrhea
paralysis
death
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In Turkey, most grayanotoxin poisoning cases are middle-aged men who attempt to use it for sexual enhancement. The drug has been called the "sweet" viagra, mainly by those selling it.
The men present symptoms to those above. They include:
abnormally slow heart rate
lower blood pressure
dizziness
nausea
fainting
blurred vision
hypersalivation
perspiration
paresthesia in the extremities and around the mouth
loss of coordination
severe and progressive muscular weakness
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As with most toxic plants, certain species of Ericaceae are used in herbal and folk medicine. Rhododendron health benefits include the prevention and treatment of ailments such as:
heart problems
dysentery
diarrhea
detoxification
inflammation
fever
constipation
bronchitis
asthma
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Mad honey producers operate large or small-scale enterprises. On the smaller scale they harvest honey from a local region or single hive. They cultivate a honey with high levels of grayanotoxin.
Large-scale honey production often mixes honey from different locations, which dilutes the amount of any affected honey. Mad honey is produced in specific world regions, notably the Black Sea region of Turkey (91% of poisoning cases in one analysis) and Nepal (5%)
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In Turkey, mad honey or deli bal is made from nectar of Rhododendron luteum and Rhododendron ponticum in the Caucasus region. In Nepal, the honey is used by the Gurung people for both its hallucinogenic properties, medicinal benefits and income potential.
In both Turkey and Nepal it's a traditional medicine, recreational drug and source of local income. In Nepal the honey comes from giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) who nest in the highest cliffs.
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Harvesters smoke out the bees and climb rope ladders to collect their golden red prize. The cost for honey made by the giant honey bees is steep. Because of its value the honey is usually not used locally.
In China the azalea subspecies is used in traditional medicine. As topical balm it's considered effective for treating itch, rheumatism, arthritis and traumatic injuries.
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Besides rhododendrons and azaleas mad honey can be made from other grayanotoxin-containing plants. Honey of Andromeda polifolia is highly toxic and can cause paralysis and lethal breathing problems.
Honey from spoonwood and related species such as sheep-laurel can cause serious illness. The honey from Lestrimelitta limao produces a similar paralysis as in the honey of A. polifolia and is also toxic to humans, dogs, horses and other animals.
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In the 18th century, mad honey is exported to Europe as an additive to alcoholic drinks to render them more potent. Mad honey is also produced from the offerings of the opium poppy. This plant has no nectar, but supplies extra pollen, so bees love it.
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