Dissecting the Antimicrobial Composition of Honey

Victoria C. Nolan, James Harrison, Jonathan A. G. Cox*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Honey is a complex sweet food stuff with well-established antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. It has been used for millennia in a variety of applications, but the most noteworthy include the treatment of surface wounds, burns and inflammation. A variety of substances in honey have been suggested as the key component to its antimicrobial potential; polyphenolic compounds, hydrogen peroxide, methylglyoxal and bee-defensin 1. These components vary greatly across honey samples due to botanical origin, geographical location and secretions from the bee. The use of medical grade honey in the treatment of surface wounds and burns has been seen to improve the healing process, reduce healing time, reduce scarring and prevent microbial contamination. Therefore, if medical grade honeys were to be included in clinical treatment, it would reduce the demand for antibiotic usage. In this review, we outline the constituents of honey and how they affect antibiotic potential in a clinical setting. By identifying the key components, we facilitate the development of an optimally antimicrobial honey by either synthetic or semisynthetic production methods.
Original languageEnglish
Article number251
JournalAntibiotics
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Dec 2019

Bibliographical note

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Keywords

  • Antimicrobials
  • Bee-defensin 1
  • Honey
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Methylglyoxal
  • Wound treatment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dissecting the Antimicrobial Composition of Honey'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this