Characterization of Different types of Honey

What is it about?

The aim of the study was to compare the antibacterial activity of several types of honey of different origins, against some bacterial resistant strains isolated from patients and to discover the correlations between the antibacterial character of honey and its physical properties: moisture content, acidity, pH, water activity or colour. Ten honey samples (polyfloral, linden, acacia, manna and sunflower) from the centre of Romania have been tested to determine their antibacterial properties against the following bacterial species: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis and Listeria monocytogenes. Bacterial cultures in nutrient broth and the culture medium Mueller-Hinton agar were used. The susceptibility to antibiotics of the isolated strains had been performed using the disk diffusion method. All honey samples, in particular polyfloral (13-21 mm for the diameters of inhibition zones) - because it is the source of several plants, also manna (13-19.5 mm for the diameter of the growth inhibition zones) and sunflower (14-18.5 mm for diameters of inhibition zones), presented antibacterial activity on the isolated bacterial strains. Pure honey has a significant antibacterial activity against some resistant bacteria to antibiotics. The bacterial strains, especially P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains, have different sensitivities to the action of honey. The present study revealed that the honey antibacterial activity depends on its origin, and that there is a correlation between the antibacterial character of honey and its colour.

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