Studies on antibacterial properties of stingless bee honey fortified with plant extracts

Abstract

Being the only available natural sweetener, honey has important role in human nutritional as well as medicinal properties. The present study was conducted to investigate different formulations of stingless bee honey with various plant extracts against five strains of bacteria which include Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Staphylococcus species, Proteus species and Pseudomonas species. The plant extract from turmeric, neem and Malabar nut plants were prepared using soxhlet extraction method, mixed with honey and even compared to respective water extracts. Zone of inhibition studies were conducted using bacterial strains grown on Muller Hinton Agar (MHA). Antibacterial activity of the honey was doubled using the fortification with neem extracts. Clear zone of bacterial inhibition ranging from 14.2 to 26.6 mm were observed for all microbial strains except Pseudomonas species. The formulation of honey with different plant extracts provides a promising results for the enhancement of antibacterial activity of honey.