Abstract

COMPARISION OF INVITRO ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT CRUDE PAKISTANI HONEY SAMPLES AND COMMERCIALS ANTIBITOTICS AGAINST CLINICAL PATHOGENS

*Samiyah Tasleem, Syed Baqir Shyum.Naqvi

Abstract

Honey is a natural medicinal substance, has been applied since ancient times as a natural remedy of various aliments and diseases. It is valued to possess antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity. The object of the present study was to determine the invitro antimicrobial activity of different honeys samples belonging to Pakistani floral sources against certain clinical pathogens and to compared with commercial antibiotics. For the investigation of antimicrobial activity ten different floral sources Apis mellifera honey samples (09 = Mix flora, 11= Gossypium species, 13= Phoenix dactylifera, 35= Salvadora persica, 39= Mangifera indica, 46= Acacia, 56= Carissa opaca, 58= Helianthus annuus, 59= Zizyphus, 65= Medicago sativa) were used, harvested during 2003 - 04 and 2004 - 05. The antimicrobial activity of honey samples were evaluated by ICLS (formerly NCCLS) reference Disc diffusion (Kirby-Bauer) method against recently isolated most common six Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Corynebacterium diptheriae), eleven Gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteries, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhi para A, Salmonella typhi para B, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter species, Pseudomonas aerugenosa) bacteria and one Fungus (Candida albicans),commonly encountered in human infections. Most of the samples of honey used in the study exhibited broad spectrum antimicrobial activity and promising antifungal activity. The results indicated that activity was present in all the honey samples. Comparison of crude honey samples with the existing commercial antibiotics was also carried out, in all cases the honey samples were found comparable to antibiotics used in the study.

Keywords: Pakistani honey samples, antimicrobial activity, commercial antibiotics.