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Path: utzoo!decvax!mcnc!unc!oliver
From: oliver@unc.UUCP (Bill Oliver)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: prevention <---> treatment
Message-ID: <37@unc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 26-Jul-85 23:21:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: unc.37
Posted: Fri Jul 26 23:21:34 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 27-Jul-85 05:42:19 EDT
References: <1049@cbdkc1.UUCP> <cadre.467> <unc.34>
Reply-To: oliver@unc.UUCP (Bill Oliver)
Distribution: na
Organization: CS Dept., U. of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 24
Summary: 

In article <unc.34> fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) writes:
>


>
>I've read that Roman soldiers used honey as a balm for binding wounds.
>If honey really has no such antiseptic effect, then why doesn't it spoil
>when stored at room temperature?

Honey doen't spoil because the high osmotic pressure of the, 
dare I say it - sugar - in the product.  The same effect is 
found in molasses and other processed high osmotic pressure 
sugar products (especially many so-called "freezer-treats").
This is the basis for sugar-curing meats, as well. Basically,
any organism that tries to live in the sugar solution gets all
of its water sucked through the cell wall and it stops growing.


This is also why, when any of these things do spoil, they
tend first to spoil by the growth of organisms, usually fungi, on the
surface.  Mix water with the honey and you get a great medium.


Bill Oliver