Antimicrobial honey

Honey has been produced in Lithuania since the ancient times. Baltrusaityte et ah (2007a,b) recently reported antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of Lithuanian honeys. Kaskoniene et ah (2010) characterized the carbohydrate composition of Lithuanian honeys obtained from various sources and determined if there was any relationship between pollen content and the content of the carbohydrate in the honey. 

Some phenolic acids such as ellagic acid can be used as floral markers of heather honey (Cherchi et al., 1994 Ferreres et al., 1996a,b), and the hydroxyciimamates (caffeic, p-coumaric, and ferulic acids) as floral markers of chestnut honey (Cherchi et al., 1994). Pinocembrin, pinobanksin, and chrysin are the characteristic flavonoids of propolis, and these flavo-noid compounds have been found in most European honey samples (Tomas-Barberan et al., 2001). However, for lavender and acacia honeys, no specific phenolic compoimds could be used as suitable floral markers (Tomas-Barberan et al., 2001). Other potential phytochemical markers like abscisic acid may become floral markers in heather honey (Cherchi et al., 1994). Abscisic acid was also detected in rapeseed, lime, and acacia honey samples (Tomas-Barberan et al., 2001). Snow and Manley-Harris (2004) studied antimicrobial activity of phenolics. 

In this paper we present a brief history of the use of sulfathiazole, Terramycin , and Fumidil-B as antimicrobials in beekeeping. Included are some results of our published research, as well as some of our new research in which we show why the precautions - stated explicitly on the current Terramycin label to assure that honey intended for human consumption is free of trace amounts of drug residues - also implicitly apply to medicated colonies from which pollen may be collected for human consumption. 

Under the pressure of an increasing number of drugs with fixed tolerance or maximum residue limits (MRLs), demands on methods to detect antimicrobial residues in edible animal products have changed markedly during recent decades (1). To satisfy these demands and prevent contaminated products from entering the food chain, many microbiological tests with sufficient detection sensitivity of as many analytes as possible in animal tissues, milk, eggs, honey, and fish have been developed or modified. 

Estevinho, L., Pereira, A. P., Moreira, L., Dias, L. G., and Pereira, E. (2008). Antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of phenolic compounds extracts of Northeast Portugal honey. Food Chem. Toxicol. 46, 3774-3779. 

Mulu, A., Tessema, B., and Derbie, F. (2004). In vitro assessment of the antimicrobial potential of honey on common human pathogens. Ethiop. ]. Health Dev. 18(2), 107-112. 

The natural occurrence of varying amounts of organic acids in honeys from different geographical areas have been documented. Much research is being done to determine the use of honey as an antimicrobial agent in various food systems (Suarez-Luque et al., 2002). 

Social insects appear to protect themselves by producing antibiotics [106]. Honey contains antimicrobial substances [107] and ants produce low molecular weight compounds with broad-spectrum activity [108]. 

A 2008 paper has described for the first time a dilute and shoot strategy for the simultaneous extraction of wide variety of residues and contaminants (pesticides, myco-toxins, plant toxins, and veterinary drugs) from different foods (meat, milk, honey, and eggs) and feed matrices. Several antimicrobial classes were included (sulfonamides, quinolones, P-lactams, macrolides, ionophores, tetracyclines, and nitroimidazoles) in the analytical method. Sample extraction was performed with water/acetonitrile or acetone/1% formic acid, but instead of dilution of the extracts before analysis by UPLC-MS/MS, small extract volumes (typically 5 til) were injected to minimize matrix effects. Despite the absence of clean-up steps and the inherent complexity of the different sample matrices, adequate recoveries were obtained for the majority of the ana-lyte/matrix combinations (typical values for antimicrobials were in the range of 70-120%). In addition, the use of UPLC allows high-speed analysis, since all analytes eluted within 9 min. 

A general limitation associated with broad-spectrum MIAs is the inconclusive nature of a positive test result. Without the use of a secondary diagnostic assay, it is difficult to attribute a positive response as being elicited by a specific antimicrobial class. More recently, post-screen classification methods selective for the most commonly detected antimicrobial classes (P-lactam, sulfonamide, and tetracyclines) have been described " in direct combination with the PremiTest assay applicable for a range of tissues, milk, egg, and honey. 

The range of kits currently available for the Charm II system and their applications are given in Table 5.5. The test manufacturer claims that the Charm II tests are capable of detecting compounds belonging to the antimicrobial class at or below their defined MRLs (or USFDA tolerances, as indicated) within the relevant matrix, including, milk, urine, serum, animal tissue, honey, and other substances at concentrations of interest to regulatory agencies. 

Honey Antimicrobial. Sloughy necrotic wounds. Autyolitic debridement. Medical grade only. Mesitran (Medlock Medical)... 

Sherlock, O., Dolan, A., Athman, R., Power, A., Gethin, G., Cowman, S., Humphreys, H., 2010. Comparison of the antimicrobial activity of Ulmo honey from Chile and manuka honey against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Bmc Complementary and Alternative Medicine 10 (1), 47. 

C Basualdo, V Sgroy, M S Finola and J M Marioli, Comparison of the antimicrobial activity of honey fiom different provenance against bacteria usually isolated fixnn skin wounds , Vet Microbial, 2007 124 375-381. 

At the Textile Engineering Department of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade, an intensive research on biomedical textile materials with antimicrobial and combined effects is recently conducted. Besides antibiotics, honey and essential oils of different plants - fir, rosemary and StJohn s worth- were used to attain biological activity of medical textile materials [21-24]. 

Alvarez-Suarez, J.M., Tulipani, S., Diaz, D., Estevez, Y., Romandini, S., Giampieri, F., Damiani, E., Astolfi, P., Bompadre, S., and Battino, M., 2010b. Antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity of several monofloral Cuban honeys and their correlation with color, polyphenol content and other chemical compounds. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 48 2490-2499. 

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