Antimicrobial properties of commercial honey obtained from Nsukka area of Enugu state, Nigeria

Abstract

The effectiveness of antibiotics is reduced as resistant pathogens develop and spread and this poses a very serious threat to public health. For at least 2700 years, honey has been used by humans to treat a variety of ailments through topical application, but only recently have the antiseptic and antimicrobial properties of honey been discovered. This work is aimed at finding an antimicrobial substitute to antibiotics especially in this era of antimicrobial resistance by investigating the antimicrobial properties of commercial honey commonly marketed at Nsukka, Nigeria. Honey samples were collected from Imilike, Ovoko and Ette, all in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. Six test organisms were used, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecium, Salmonella species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. Screening for antimicrobial properties was done with Muller Hinton agar using agar well diffusion method. The organisms showed variation in the rate of inhibition and response to the different honey samples. There were increases in diameters of zone of inhibition with increasing concentration of all the honey samples, thus giving a linear relationship between the two parameters. The minimum inhibitory concentrations for S. aureus, E coli and Salmonella species were 1:8 dilutions for all the honey samples while that of S. faecium was 1:4 dilution. This showed that S. faecium was more resistant to the effect of honey than the others. P. aeruginosa and C. albicans were resistant to all the honey samples. The honey samples had more inhibitory effect on S. aureus and E. coli and least inhibitory effect on Salmonella species. Conclusively, the honey samples inhibited some organisms that are threat to public health.

Keywords: Antibiotics; Antimicrobial; Honey; Inhibition; Resistant microorganisms.