Honey cerate

A pharmacological skin preparation made with beeswax, honey and olive oil

Sara Robb, Bath Potions Ltd, 33 Eversleigh Road, London N3 1HY, UK

Keywords: Cerate, beeswax, honey, olive oil, recipes, ceratum mellis, value added products

The sale of honey can provide a sustainable income for beekeepers living in poor and remote areas. Value-added products made with honey, beeswax and other locally-sourced ingredients can generate further income. Skin preparations made with beeswax and honey sooth skin and facilitate healing and are ideal products to sell at local markets. This article describes one formulation, honey cerate, and includes a recipe for production as well as scientific evidence for its medicinal efficacy.

Cerate

Cerate, a pharmacological preparation made with wax, oil or fat, and other medicinal ingredients, has been used for centuries to treat a variety of cutaneous conditions. The name cerate is derived from cera, which means wax. Historically, beeswax, or cera alba, was the wax used, and olive oil the oil of choice in these formulations. The ratio of wax to oil produced a thick ointment used to cover wounds. To the basic blend, selective active ingredients could be added to formulate cerate to treat specific medical problems.

Recipe for cerate, which appeared in the 1809 edition of the Royal College of Physicians Pharmacopeia

Cerate has been used as a skin remedy for centuries and recently has experienced a resurgence. A recipe for cerate, which appeared in the 1809 edition of the Royal College of Physicians Pharmacopeia, is shown below left. This formulation calls for nearly equal quantities of beeswax and olive oil, making an extremely stiff preparation. The addition of medicinal ingredients, such as honey, to this basic recipe creates a product that is thinner and easier to apply. Recipes for ceratum mellis, or honey cerate, can be found in medical texts dating back to the 1500s, however these early recipes often contained lead, which is now known to be toxic. This article provides a modern, lead-free recipe and instructions to make a medicinal cerate with honey as the active ingredient.

Honey as an active ingredient

Bee products are valuable ingredients in formulations used to treat skin conditions. Beeswax and honey are emollients and enhance the moisturising properties of topical treatments. Honey is an active ingredient, which imparts a number of healing qualities to skin preparations.

Honey contains anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals. It contains pigmented molecules called polyphenol anti-oxidants. Phenolic compounds give honey their colour. The darker the honey, the higher the level of anti-oxidants. Polyphenol anti-oxidants decrease oxidative stress and neutralise free radicals and chelate iron. As well as having anti-oxidant activity, honey is also anti-bacterial.

The anti-bacterial actions of honey are a result of acidity, high osmolarity, production of peroxide, and the presence of the enzyme lysozyme. These characteristics, found in all honey, can help fight infection and promote healing. Honey concentrations between 30% and 70% have been shown to effectively kill polymicrobial human pathogens (see Al-Waili et al 2014 in Further Reading below). The honey concentration in the cerate recipe provided in this article is 40%, well within the range necessary to convey anti-bacterial activity.

Scientific evidence

The functional properties of honey are very likely responsible for the effects discussed in the scientific literature evaluating cerate. Honey cerate, the mixture of honey, olive oil, and beeswax, has been evaluated clinically by Al-Waili and his colleagues. The results of these studies have been published in scientific journals.

The honey cerate used in the Al-Waili studies contained equal parts, by volume, of beeswax, honey and olive oil. This varies slightly from the recipe provided below, which is measured by weight and contains 20% beeswax, 40% olive oil and 40% honey. However, these formulations are similar enough to make comparisons. The floral source of the honey used in clinical studies is not discussed. It is worth pointing out that in all likelihood any honey will result in a medicinal product.

(2) Utensils required to make cerate

All photos © Sara Robb, Bath Potions Ltd

Al-Waili, et al have conducted a number of clinical studies using medicinal honey cerate. Their findings are in part responsible for the increased interest in honey cerate as a pharmacological agent. Cerate made of beeswax, olive oil and honey showed clinical and mycological benefits in the treatment of nappy dermatitis, was clinically effective in treating haemorrhoids, helped to alleviate atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, and inhibited the growth of microorganisms. These finding suggest there are likely a number of other skin conditions honey cerate could improve. Indeed, there is anecdotal evidence to support this claim.

Anecdotal evidence

My family has been making a version of honey cerate since my great-grandfather was a beekeeper in the early 1900s in America. The recipe made by my ancestors used lard instead of olive oil. Indeed, many American formularies from the 1800s and early 1900s contained recipes using lard, rather than olive oil. When I began making honey cerate commercially, I used olive oil in the preparation because of the scientific articles published by the Al-Waili research group.

My husband and I are scientists and we are both impressed by the healing properties of honey cerate. We have used the blend of beeswax, honey and olive oil to treat chapped lips, nappy rash, cuts, burns and skin infections. In our hands, application of honey cerate rapidly decreases redness and speeds wound healing. Our observations are in complete agreement with the studies conducted by Al-Waili and colleagues.

Additionally, people have contacted me with their own stories about honey cerate successfully treating medical problems. The conditions improved include, eczema, psoriasis, burns, cracked skin, cutaneous ulcers and dental sores. Other reports provide anecdotal evidence, and honey cerate may be useful in treating wounds in cows and dogs. I am sure the evidence will continue to mount supporting the use of honey cerate to treat a variety of disorders.

Honey cerate’s effectiveness in treating a number of ailments, as supported by the scientific literature and anecdotal evidence, makes it an ideal product to sell at local markets. This formulation can be easily made with minimal equipment and just three ingredients, enabling any beekeeper to manufacture honey cerate for profit.

Making medicinal honey cerate

Most beekeepers will have the utensils necessary to make cerate. Image 2 shows the recommended equipment which includes a scale, jar, spoon and pan. Honey cerate is made with just three ingredients, beeswax, honey and olive oil (3). Either set or runny honey can be used in the recipe below. The process of heating the ingredients will dissolve the sugar crystals in set honey. If olive oil is unavailable, it can be substituted with a locally sourced oil. It is worth mentioning that the clinical trials assessing the healing properties of honey cerate have been conducted using a formulation containing olive oil. Including olive oil in the recipe enables citation of scientific papers when selling honey cerate at local markets.

-INGREDIENTS-

• 20 grams beeswax

• 40 grams olive oil

• 40 grams honey

-PREPARATION-

1. Weigh beeswax, olive oil and honey into a jar.

2. Place the jar containing the ingredients into the pan filled with water to make a bain-marie.

3. Heat the ingredients until the beeswax has completely melted. Stir occasionally.

4. Remove from heat. Begin to stir the cerate to mix the ingredients.

5. Continue to stir until the mixture is completely cool to prevent the honey from separating from the oil and beeswax.

Making honey cerate is not difficult, but it does require considerable attention. All ingredients are measured by weight directly into a jar (4). The jar is then transferred to a bain-marie and heated just until the beeswax melts. Care should be taken to ensure the ingredients are not overheated.

(3) Ingredients required to make cerate: beeswax, honey and olive oil

(4) Weighing the ingredients for cerate

5A – C show the the cerate as it cools. 5A shows the ingredients after being heated. In 5B, the cerate has begun to cool and the beeswax is solidifying. It is essential to stir the mixture from this stage through the stage shown in photo 5C. When the honey cerate is cool, it is ready to transfer to small jars for sale (6).

5A

5B

5C

(6) Cerate fully cooled and placed in containers

The key to successfully making a good cerate is stirring continuously until the mixture has cooled. As the temperature of the cerate decreases, it will become increasingly difficult to stir. It is essential not to stop stirring or the honey and beeswax will separate, yielding a product that is gritty.

The colour of the finished product will vary according to the colour of the honey used in the formulation. Darker honey will yield a darker product. Honey cerate is thick and tacky to the touch. It should be applied liberally to burns, cuts and other lesions and applied in a thin layer to larger affected areas.

A variation of the honey cerate recipe above could be made by adding propolis, another active bee product. Because this resinous compound is antiseborrhoeic, propolis cerate could be used to treat acne. Additionally, propolis is high in anti-oxidants, and has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties which may enhance the pharmacological activity of honey cerate when added to the formulation.

Conclusion

Scientific studies showing cerate speeds wound healing, is effective at treating microbial infections, alleviates nappy dermatitis and relives psoriasis, support claims that cerate is a potent therapeutic formulation. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests honey cerate is useful to treat a number of skin conditions such as burns, cuts, abrasions, rashes and acne. Honey cerate made with the simple combination of olive oil, honey and beeswax is an ideal product to sell at local markets.

Sara Robb has a PhD in neuroscience from Hershey Medical School, Pennsylvania, USA. In 2003 she started her company Bath Potions which specialises in cosmetics containing honey and beeswax. Sara has a continued interest in developing value added products for beekeepers.

FURTHER READING

Robb, S. (2009) Dr Sara’s Honey Potions. Northern Bee Books. Mytholmroyd, UK.

Robb, S. (2012) Beauty and the Bees. Northern Bee Books. Mytholmroyd, UK.

Al-Waili, N. S. (2003). Topical application of natural honey, beeswax and olive oil mixture for atopic dermatitis or psoriasis: partially controlled, single-blinded study. Complement Ther Med., 11(4):226-34.

Al-Waili, N. S. (2005). Clinical and mycological benefits of topical application of honey, olive oil and beeswax in diaper dermatitis. Clin Microbiol Infect., 11(2):160-3.