Conventional Use of Honey as Antibacterial Agent

Abstract

Background: Honey has since been found to possess antibacterial property and is therefore employed for wound therapy. The current problems with conventional antibacterial agents, led to the choice of honey as well as other natural products by the populace, in the treatment of bacterial infections. The present study evaluates the antibacterial spectrum and efficacy of honey and compared same with tetracycline and ciprofloxacin. Methods: Different concentrations (12.5, 25.0, 50.0 and 100.0 %) of honey were studied in - vitro using Staphylococcus aureus , Staphylococcus albus , Streptococcus faecalis , Klebsiella sp., Proteus mirabilis , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Escherichia coli . Results: The data obtained showed a dose dependent inhibitory action of honey, except with Streptococcus faecalis where there was no growth inhibition. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of honey presented Staphylococcus albus as the most susceptible organism and Escherichia coli, the least. While ciprofloxacin (2.0 mg/ml) exerted a greater potency than honey, tetracycline was found to be less potent than 100% concentration of honey, except with Escherichia coli. Conclusion: The antibacterial action of honey was observed with 50% as well as the neat concentration. However, ciprofloxacin exhibited a greater potency and efficacy as well as a broader spectrum than honey, which shows that where a broad spectrum antibacterial is required, the conventional drugs, especially the newer ones are preferred to honey.Introduction : Depuis bien longtemps, on disait que le miel poss\ue8de des vertus antibact\ue9riens et donc on l'utilisait pour la th\ue9rapie des blessures. Des probl\ue8mes actuels li\ue9s aux agents conventionnels antibact\ue9rien, a provoqu\ue9 le choix du miel de m\ueame que d'autres produits naturels par le peuple, dans la prise en charge des infections bact\ue9riennes. Cette \ue9tude fait une \ue9valuation du spectre antibact\ue9rien et l'efficacit\ue9 du miel par rapport au t\ue9tracycline et ciproflocine. M\ue9thode : Des concentrations diverses (12,5 ; 25,0 ; 50,0 et 100,0%) du miel ont \ue9t\ue9 \ue9tudi\ue9s in-vitro \ue0 travers l'utilisation du staphylococcus aureus, staphylococcus albus, streptococcus faecalis, klebsiella sp., proteus mirabilis, pseudomonas aeruginose, et escherichia coli. R\ue9sultats : Les donn\ue9es obtenues avaient montr\ue9 une action inhibiteur d'une dose d\ue9pendante du miel \ue0 l'exception du S. faecalis l\ue0 o\uf9 il n'y avait aucune inhibition de croissance. La concentration inhibiteur minimum (CIM) du miel a pr\ue9sent\ue9 S. albus comme un organisme le plus susceptible et E. coli le moins, Tandis que ciprofloxacine (2.0mg/ml) a donn\ue9 une plus grande efficacit\ue9 que du miel, t\ue9tracycline \ue9tait not\ue9e d'avoir le moindre efficacit\ue9 que 100% concentration du miel \ue0 l'exception du E. Coli. Conclusion : L'action antibact\ue9rienne du miel \ue9tait not\ue9e avec 50% de m\ueame que la concentration ing\ue9nieuse. Toutefois, la ciprofloxacine a donn\ue9 une plus grande efficacit\ue9 de m\ueame que un large spectre plus que du miel qui montre que l\ue0 o\uf9 un tr\ue8s grand spectre antibact\ue9rien est exig\ue9, des drogues conventionnelles, des nouvelles drogues en particulier sont pr\ue9f\ue9r\ue9s au miel