Vanilla Fir Honey

Our vanilla fir honey is harvested in Arcadia, northern Greece.

Do you know Arcadie?

This region of the Peloponnese is historic for Greece and the Greeks in more ways than one. Indeed, the region’s inhabitants, the Arcadians, believed that they were the second indigenous people of Greece after the Leleges. They also believed that Zeus and other Olympian gods were born in the mountains of Arcadia. The very name Arcadia comes from Arcas, king of the region, said to be the son of Zeus and the nymph Callisto. Deceived by Artemis, Arcas killed his mother while hunting, when Artemis turned her into a bear. To save her, Zeus transformed her into a constellation, and she became the constellation of the Great Bear. In his turn, Arcas was also changed into a constellation and thus became the Little Bear.

The production of vanilla fir honey is very low and periodic over the years. It is only harvested every two or three years. In fact, it’s one of the treasures of Greek nature!
It is produced exclusively from the black fir tree on Mt. Mainalosmainly in the Alonistaina and Vytina regions of Arcadia.

Characteristics of vanilla fir honey :

Vanilla fir honey is the only Greek honey with a protected designation of origin (PDO). It is produced from the black fir trees of Mount Mainalo in Arcadia. It is renowned for its taste and low sugar content. Thanks to its low sugar content, it remains liquid for a long time. Nevertheless, it is very dense. Its color is caramel, with a strange pearly sheen.
Its taste is reminiscent of vanilla and sweet spices.

Properties of vanilla fir honey :

Since vanilla has aphrodisiac properties, does vanilla fir honey have the same properties? Of course not!
That said, vanilla fir honey has the same properties as fir honey namely that it is expectorant and good for bronchi and respiratory tracts. It also works well for asthma sufferers.
Results have also shown that Greek fir honey has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity (peroxide-type). Next come Scottish heather, Chilean Ulmo and New Zealand beech. New Zealand and finally Jarrah honey.

Of all the bacteria tested, four were the most sensitive to Greek fir honey: S.marcescens, and E. coli (with the highest sensitivity) B. sphaericus and B. subtilis.

In addition, applied locally to the skin, vanilla fir honey is a cell-replenisher. It can be effective on acne, as well as on certain fungal itches.

In October 2009, a study led by Anna Tsiapara, Ioanna Chinou and their team, demonstrated the influence of fir honey extracts on estrogenic activity and cell viability in breast (MCF-7), endometrial (Ishikawa) and prostate (PC-3) cancer cells. Thyme honey reduced the viability of Ishikawa and PC-3 cells, while fir honey stimulated the viability of MCF-7 cells. The authors concluded that the modulation of estrogenic activity was linked to the rich phenolic content of Greek honeys, and suggested that a diet enriched with thyme honey could prevent cancer-related processes in breast, prostate and endometrial cancer cells.

Did you know?

Arcadia was depicted as the land of happiness, the ideal country, a Utopia. Ancient poetry, such as Virgil’s Les Bucoliques or Ovid’s Les Fastes, described Arcadia as a primitive, idyllic place populated by shepherds living in harmony with nature.