Antibacterial and antioxidant activity of different types of honey derived from Mount Olympus in Greece

Stagos,Dimitrios; Soulitsiotis,Nikolaos; Tsadila,Christina; Papaeconomou,Stamatina; Arvanitis,Charalampos; Ntontos,Alexandros; Karkanta,Fani; Adamou‑Androulaki,Soultana; Petrotos,Konstantinos; Spandidos,Demetrios A.; Kouretas,Demetrios; Mossialos,Dimitris

doi:10.3892/ijmm.2018.3656

Antibacterial and antioxidant activity of different types of honey derived from Mount Olympus in Greece

Authors:
- Dimitrios Stagos
- Nikolaos Soulitsiotis
- Christina Tsadila
- Stamatina Papaeconomou
- Charalampos Arvanitis
- Alexandros Ntontos
- Fani Karkanta
- Soultana Adamou‑Androulaki
- Konstantinos Petrotos
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
- Demetrios Kouretas
- Dimitris Mossialos
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Affiliations: Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Biopolis, 41500 Larissa, Greece, Department of Biosystems Engineering, Technical Education Institute of Thessaly, 41110 Larissa, Greece, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Medical School, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Published online on: May 4, 2018 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2018.3656
Pages: 726-734
Copyright: © Stagos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of 21 types of honey derived from Mount Olympus (Mt. Olympus), a region with great plant biodiversity. The antibacterial activity was examined against the growth of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) by the agar well diffusion assay and the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The antioxidant activity was assessed by using the 2,2‑diphenyl‑1‑picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'‑azino‑bis(3‑ethylbenzothiazoline‑6‑sulphonic acid (ABTS•+) free radical scavenging assays. These activities were compared to Manuka honey which is used as an alternative medicine. The results revealed that all tested honey types exhibited antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The MIC of the tested honey types against S. aureus ranged from 3.125 to 12.5% (v/v), while MIC of Manuka honey was determined to be 6.25% (v/v). The MIC values of the tested honey types against P. aeruginosa ranged from 6.25 to 12.5% (v/v) and the MIC of Manuka honey was determined at 12.5% (v/v). Moreover, the results suggested that the presence of hydrogen peroxide and proteinaceous compounds in the honey types accounted, at least in part, for the antibacterial activity. In addition, the total polyphenolic content (TPC) of the honey types seemed to contribute to the antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, some of the tested honey types exhibited potent free radical scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS•+ radicals, which was greater than that of Manuka honey. The results indicated that not only the quantity, but also the quality of the polyphenols were responsible for the antioxidant activity. Moreover, four honey types exhibiting great antioxidant activity were converted to powder using a freeze drying method. The results indicated that following conversion to powder all honey types, apart from one, retained their antioxidant activity, although their TPC was reduced. On the whole, and at least to the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first that extensively examined the bioactivities of different types of honey derived from Mt. Olympus.

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