Abstract
BackgroundHoney has been shown to have wound healing properties which can be ascribed to its antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial activity can be effective against a broad spectrum of bacterial species especially those of medical importance. It has also been shown that there is considerable variation in the antimicrobial potency of different types of honey, which is impossible to predict. With this in mind we tested the antimicrobial activity of honeys produced from plants grown in South Africa for their antibacterial properties on selected standard strains of oral micro-organisms.MethodsThe honeys used were produced from the blossoms of Eucalyptus cladocalyx (Bluegum) trees, an indigenous South African plant Leucospermum cordifolium (Pincushion), a mixture of wild heather shrubs, mainly Erica species (Fynbos) and a Leptospermum scoparium (Manuka) honey. Only pure honey which had not been heated was used. The honeys were tested for their antimicrobial properties with a broth dilution method.ResultsAlthough the honeys produced some inhibitory effect on the growth of the micro-organisms, no exceptionally high activity occurred in the South African honeys. The carbohydrate concentration plays a key role in the antimicrobial activity of the honeys above 25%. However, these honeys do contain other antimicrobial properties that are effective against certain bacterial species at concentrations well below the hypertonic sugar concentration. The yeast C. albicans was more resistant to the honeys than the bacteria. The species S. anginosus and S. oralis were more sensitive to the honeys than the other test bacteria.ConclusionThe honeys produced from indigenous wild flowers from South Africa had no exceptionally high activity that could afford medical grade status.
Highlights
Honey has been shown to have wound healing properties which can be ascribed to its antimicrobial activity
The honey types used were as follows: a honey produced from the blossoms of Leucospermum cordifolium, a wild shrub unique to the Cape Peninsula of South Africa (Pincushion honey); a honey produced from a mixture of many heather shrubs but mainly from Erica species found on the southern coastal parts of South Africa (Fynbos honey); a honey produced from Eucalyptus cladocalyx trees (Bluegum honey) an alien species originally from Australia; a honey locally produced from the L. scoparium plant (Manuka bush) that was obtained from New Zealand
No difference was observed in the antimicrobial activity between the four honeys for concentrations up to 21%
Summary
Honey has been shown to have wound healing properties which can be ascribed to its antimicrobial activity. It has been shown that there is considerable variation in the antimicrobial potency of different types of honey, which is impossible to predict. With this in mind we tested the antimicrobial activity of honeys produced from plants grown in South Africa for their antibacterial properties on selected standard strains of oral microorganisms. It has been shown that natural unheated honey has some broad-spectrum antibacterial activity when tested against pathogenic bacteria, oral bacteria as well as food spoilage bacteria [10,11,12]. The best known of these is New Zealand Manuka honey produced from the Manuka bush, Leptospermum scoparium [14]
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