ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2020
Physical characteristics and antimicrobial properties of Apis mellifera, Frieseomelitta nigra and Melipona favosa bee honeys from apiaries in Trinidad and Tobago.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Potential of Malaysian Kelulut Honeydew Honey Against Acne Pathogens.Current microbiology · 2026Article
- In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Raw Honey From Apis mellifera, Awi Zone, Amhara, Ethiopia.MicrobiologyOpen · 2025Article
- Physicochemical and antioxidant properties of honey across bee species from North Eastern Hill region of India.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Physicochemical Characteristics, Antioxidant Capacity, and Antimicrobial Activity of Stingless Bee Honey from Malaysia:Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Comparative nutritional and antioxidant profiling of Assam honeys: unveiling the untapped bioactivity of stingless bee honey.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Potential of Bioactive Protein and Protein Hydrolysate fromPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Review
- Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of proteins isolated fromFood chemistry: X · 2022Article
- Applications of Alginate-Based Nanomaterials in Enhancing the Therapeutic Effects of Bee Products.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2022Review
- Bee Venom, Honey, and Royal Jelly in the Treatment of Bacterial Infections of the Oral Cavity: A Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- In Vitro Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of Hungarian Honeys against Respiratory Tract Bacteria.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Beehive Products as Antibacterial Agents: A Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- The Antibacterial Potential of Honeydew Honey Produced by Stingless Bee (Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Antiviral and Immunomodulatory Effects of Phytochemicals from Honey against COVID-19: Potential Mechanisms of Action and Future Directions.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Antioxidant-Based Medicinal Properties of Stingless Bee Products: Recent Progress and Future Directions.Biomolecules · 2020Review
- Characterization of Antibiofilm and Antimicrobial Effects ofJournal of evidence-based integrative medicineArticle
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHoney is a versatile and complex substance consisting of bioactive chemicals which vary according to many bee and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to assess the physical and antimicrobial properties of five honey samples obtained from three species of bees; two stingless bees, Frieseomelitta nigra and Melipona favosa and one stinging bee, Apis mellifera (fresh and aged honey). Samples were acquired from apiaries across Trinidad and Tobago. An artificial honey, made from sugar, was also used for comparison.
methodsPhysical properties such as appearance, pH, moisture content, sugar content and specific gravity were determined. Antimicrobial activity was assessed utilizing the agar diffusion assay and comparison to a phenol equivalence. The broth microdilution test was performed to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of the five honey samples against four common pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes and Haemophilus influenzae.
resultsAll honey samples were acidic, with pH values ranging from 2.88 (M. favosa of Tobago) to 3.91 (fresh A. mellifera). Sugar content ranged from 66.0 to 81.6% with the highest values detected in stinging bee honeys of the A. mellifera (81.6 and 80.5°Bx). Moisture content ranged from 16.9% for aged A. mellifera honey (from Trinidad) to 32.4% for F. nigra honey (from Tobago). The MICs (2 to 16%) and MBCs (2 to 32%) of stingless bee honeys were lower than that of stinging bee and artificial honeys (16 to > 32%). Stingless bee honeys also exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms with higher phenol equivalence values (4.5 to 28.6%) than the A. mellifera honeys (0 to 3.4%) against the isolates tested. M. favosa honey of Tobago displayed the greatest antimicrobial activity as indicated by the high phenol equivalence and low MIC and MBC values.
conclusionsStingless bee honeys from Tobago showed the greatest antimicrobial activity when compared to the other honeys used in this study. M. favosa honey of Tobago showed the most potential for use as medicinal honey.
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