Introduction And Literature Review
1.1. Introduction
Traditional medicine has been used to treat infections since the origin of mankind and honey is one of the oldest medicines considered as a remedy for microbial infections (Cooper et al., 2009). It was not until late 19th century that researchers discovered that honey has natural antimicrobial qualities (Zumla and Lulat, 1989). Resistance to antibiotics continues to rise and few new therapies are on the horizon, there is further increased interest in the antimicrobial potency of honey (Fahim et al., 2014). Previous studies showed that honey hadremarkable antimicrobial activity against fungi, bacteria,viruses and protozoa(Molan, 1992; Sherlock et al., 2010; Mohapatra et al., 2011; Fahim et al., 2014).
Honey is a natural sweet mixture produced by honey insects from the nectar of flowers or from living parts of plants. The insect transform the nectar into honey by combining this mixture with substances of their own. The mixture is then regurgitated, dehydrated and stored in the waxy honeycomb inside the hive to ripen and mature for further use (Iurlina and Fritz, 2005). Honey is composed mainly of carbohydrates, smaller amount of water and a great number of minor components. Sugars are the main constituents of honey, constituting of about 95%. Honey characterization is based on the determination of its chemical, physical or biological properties (Gomes et al., 2010).
Even though honey is produced worldwide, its composition and antimicrobial activity can be variable, and are dependent primarily on their botanical origin, geographical and entomological source (Maryann, 2000). Other certain external factors, such as harvesting season, environmental factors, processing and storage condition, also play important roles (Gheldof and Engeseth, 2002). Entomologically, the honey variety produced by honey bees (the genusApis) is one most commonly referred to, as it is the type of honey collected by most beekeepers and consumed by most people in Nigeria. Honeys produced by other insects (stingless insects) have different properties (Sherlock et al.,2010).
Antimicrobial activity of honey is highly complex due to the involvement of multiple compounds and also due to large variations in the concentrations of these compounds among honeys. It depends on osmotic effect (sugar concentration), hydrogen peroxide, and low pH, as well as more recently identified compounds, methyl glyoxal and antimicrobial peptide, bee defensin-1 (Fahim et al., 2014).
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