Antimicrobial activity of honey from the stingless bee Trigona carbonaria determined by agar diffusion, agar dilution, broth microdilution and time-kill methodology.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine the spectrum of antimicrobial activity of 11 samples of stingless bee honey compared to medicinal, table and artificial honeys.


RESULTS
Activity was assessed by agar diffusion, agar dilution, broth microdilution and time-kill viability assays. By agar dilution, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges were 4% to >10% (w/v) for Gram-positive bacteria, 6% to >16% (w/v) for Gram-negative bacteria and 6% to >10% (w/v) for Candida spp. By broth microdilution, all organisms with the exception of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata were inhibited at <or=32% (w/v). Geometric MIC (w/v) means for stingless bee honeys ranged from 7.1% to 16.0% and were 11.7% for medicinal honey and 26.5% for table honey. Treatment of organisms with 20% (w/v) stingless bee honey for 60 min resulted in decreases of 1-3 log for Staphylococcus aureus, >3 log for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and <1 log for C. albicans. Similar treatment with each control honey resulted in decreases of <1 log for all organisms.


CONCLUSIONS
Stingless bee honey has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity although activity against Candida was limited. Stingless bee honey samples varied in activity and the basis for this remains to be determined.


CONCLUSIONS
Stingless bee honey had similar activity to medicinal honey and may therefore have a role as a medicinal agent.
Boorn
K L
KL
School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
Khor
Y-Y
YY
Sweetman
E
E
Tan
F
F
Heard
T A
TA
Hammer
K A
KA
D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001516:Bees / Q000737:chemistry*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D006722:Honey; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents