Effects of natural honey on polymicrobial culture of various human pathogens

Journal Article

Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed . 2014

• المجلة \ الصحيفة: Archives of Medical Science
• رقم العدد: 2
• رقم الإصدار السنوي: 10
• الصفحات: 246-250

مستخلص المنشور

Honey is a drug in addition to its valuable nutrient contents. Honey was valued highly in the Middle East. It was mentioned in the Holy Quran 1400 years ago (And thy LORD taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in men’s habitations, then to eat of all the produce of the earth and find with skill the spacious paths of its LORD, there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colors, wherein is healing for men, verily in this is a sign for those who give thought). It is also mentioned in the Talmud. Hippocrates and Celsus used honey for wounds and ulcers. Prophet Mohammed recommended honey for treatment of diarrhea. Laboratory studies and clinical trials have shown that honey is an effective broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent [1–9]. The antibacterial effect of honey was studied when a loopful specimen of each pathogen was inoculated in various concentrations of honey prepared in solid media or using a disc impregnated with honey. These techniques have been used to explore the effect of honey on growth of a small number of isolates usually using a 1 µl standard loop for inoculation. They did not show an influence of honey on mixed microbial cultures. In addition, most previous studies were planned to answer whether honey could prevent multiplication of a single pathogen inoculated into media prepared with various concentration of v/v honey.