title: Antibacterial activity of different honeys against pathogenic bacteria.
abstract: To study the antimicrobial activity of honey, 60 samples of various botanical origin were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities against 16 clinical pathogens and their respective reference strains. The microbiological quality of honeys and the antibiotic susceptibility of the various isolates were also examined. The bioassay applied for determining the antimicrobial effect employs the well-agar diffusion method and the estimation of minimum active dilution which produces a 1mm diameter inhibition zone. All honey samples, despite their origin (coniferous, citrus, thyme or polyfloral), showed antibacterial activity against the pathogenic and their respective reference strains at variable levels. Coniferous and thyme honeys showed the highest activity with an average minimum dilution of 17.4 and 19.2% (w/v) followed by citrus and polyfloral honeys with 20.8 and 23.8% respectively. Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica subsp. Enterica, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis were proven to be up to 60% more resistant than their equal reference strains thus emphasizing the variability in the antibacterial effect of honey and the need for further research.
authors.affiliation: Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Department of Animal Production, GR47100 Arta, Greece.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voidarou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alexopoulos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Plessas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karapanou
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mantzourani
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stavropoulou
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fotou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tzora
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Skoufos
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bezirtzoglou
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D006722:Honey; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents