Non-Peroxide Antibacterial Activity of Honey

Abstract

Honey acts as an antibacterial agent against many bacteria (1). There are two sorts of antibacterial agents or so called “inhibines.” One of them is heat- and light-sensitive and has its origin in the H₂O₂, produced by honey glucose oxidase (2,3,4). Some workers believe that hydrogen peroxide is the main antibacterial agent (2,5,6). Other authors find that the non-peroxide activity is the more important one (7,8,9). The H₂O₂ amount in honey is very small and it can be produced only after aerobic incubation of diluted honey solutions, which might mean that it is not very important for the antibacterial action of honey (10). The argumentations of the pro and contra peroxide side are based on the results with the specific antibacterial test used. However, a certain antibacterial test might be sensitive only to certain types of antibacterian substances. In a previous study from our laboratory it was found that while in an agar disc diffusion test only the peroxide activity was measured, in a liquid medium test only the non-peroxide substances were active(10).