The antimicrobial activity of the acacia honey

Abstract

Antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activity of honey has been known since ancient times and mostly is connected with hydrogen peroxide, produced by the activity of the enzyme glucose oxidase, secreted by honeybees. In addition to hydrogen peroxide, the antimicrobial activity of honey also contributes the non peroxide compounds, which concentration is directly related to the botanical origin of honey, processing and storage period. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of acacia honey is tested against different types of pathogenic microorganisms. For those isolates, for which the acacia honey was shown antimicrobial activity by the agar-well diffusion method, minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum lethal (MLC) were determined. The acacia honey was shown best activity against strain Staphylococcus aureus TL, with the achievement of wider zones of inhibition with 25%, 50% and 75% solutions of acacia honey than zone achieved with 3% H2O2 solution. Antimicrobial activity of acacia honey was also noticed against Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Shigella sonnei, Bacillus cereus, while activity was not observed toward Staphylococcus epidermidis, Listeria innocua, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumilus and Candida albicans.