Antibacterial Activity of Honey from Wild Species of Stingless Bees; Plebenia hylderbrandii and Meliponula bocandei

Abstract

One of the serious problems the world is facing today is the antimicrobial resistance on available antibiotics by most bacterial pathogens and the rising cost of finding effective antimicrobial agents. In recent years, efforts to find new drugs especially from natural sources have been boosted by the demand for an effective cure for infectious diseases. Only the antibacterial activity of apis mellifera honey and not stingless bee honey from western Kenya has been reported. This study was therefore carried out to determine the effect of Plebenia hylderbrandii and Meliponula bocandei honey samples on the growth of control; sensitive cases of Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923). Different honey concentrations (1.18% - 17.65% v/v) of the two samples were tested against the two micro-organisms. The samples were screened for their antibacterial potential against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by agar well dilution method. The Partial inhibitory concentration (PIC), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were determined by in vitro method. The inhibitory effect of Plebenia hylderbrandii honey on E. coli and S. aureus growth was apparent at concentrations 3.53% and 1.76% (v/v) respectively. On the other hand, the inhibitory effect of Meliponula bocandei honey on S. aureus growth was at concentration 16.47% (v/v). Plebenia hylderbrandii honey had bactericidal effect on both E. coli and S. aureus at concentrations 4.71% and 2.35% (v/v) respectively. However, Meliponula bocandei honey exerted bactericidal effect on S. aureus only at 16.47% (v/v) concentration. Plebenia hylderbrandii honey had higher antibacterial potency and can be a potential source of antibacterial substances. Moreover, the honeys tested in this study showed great antibacterial potential for S. aureus.