In vitro Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of Bee Honey against Gram-Positive Cocci Bacteria Isolated from Clinical Specimen in Shendi Town

Background: Bacterial resistance is a more serious threat, and herbal medicines have been used as an alternative solution to this problem. Honey has been used to treat bacterial infections for decades.

Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study conducted at the Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Laboratory Medicine, Shendi, Sudan between October 2021 and November 2021. In this study, 50 different clinical samples were collected from different microbiology laboratories in Shendi City, and different Gram-positive cocci bacteria were isolated and identified by Gram’s staining and biochemical tests. The susceptibility of Gram-positive bacteria to the bee honey was determined using agar well diffusion technique.

Results: Out of a total of 50 clinical specimens cultured the most frequent isolated bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus (46%), Streptococcus epidermidis (36%), Streptococcus viridian's (10%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (4%), while the least isolated bacteria was Enterococcus fecalis (4%). On the other hand, 100% (v/v) honey was more effective than the tested antibiotics, inhibiting 74% of clinical isolates, while 38% of microorganisms were inhibited by only 50% (v/v) honey and 14% of organisms inhibited by 25% (v/v) Honey. Bee honey showed a clear effect on the isolated bacteria.

Conclusion: Based on these results, we can conclude that honey has broad activity against Gram-positive bacteria. Therefore, honey can be considered as a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent. The medicinal use of Sudanese honey and the assumption that the possibility of local production of bioactive honey requires additional investigation.