Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity of Different Honeys
March 11th, 2010 by , under nnmj.com.
Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity of Different Honeys
Background:
With the irrational and massive use of Antibiotics in underdeveloped and developing countries, resultantly there was increased Resistance to Antibiotics and with the increased interest in herbal medicine and use of honey for various therapeutic purposes has led to the search for new antibacterial honeys. Hence a study was conducted to assess the antibacterial and fungicidal activity of six honeys locally produced under natural and farm environment and their comparison with the commercially available therapeutic honeys (including Medihoney® and rewa rewa honey).
Methods:
An agar dilution method was used to assess the activity of honeys against 15 bacteria and one yeast. The honeys were tested at eight concentrations ranging from 1% to 50%.
Results:
All 15 bacteria were inhibited by all honeys used in this study with only the yeast Candida albicans not inhibited by the honeys at 20%. Little antibacterial activity was seen at honey concentrations <5%, with minimal inhibition at 5%. No honey was able to produce complete inhibition of bacterial growth at concentration up to 20% but with the increase in concentration 40% honey obtained from wild bee produces remarkable inhibition. Although Medihoney® and rewa rewa had the overall good activity but the activity of naturally produced (by wild bee) local honey was even better than those. But the locally produced honeys by commercial beekeepers had poor inhibitory activity for some, but not for all bacteria.
Conclusions:
Honeys other than those commercially available as antibacterial honeys can have equivalent antibacterial activity if they produced through hygienic methods. The newly identified antibacterial honeys may prove to be a valuable source of future therapeutic honeys.
Author(s):
T. Ijaz1, F.A. Ranjha2, M.K. Shahzad3, M.A. Khan3, M. Imran3, N. Ijaz1, S. Ijaz4
Affiliation:
1Microbiology Laboratory Mayo Hospital, Lahore , Pakistan, 2Chairman Research Cell Mayo Hospital , Lahore, Pakistan, 3University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, 1Microbiology Laboratory Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, 4Services Institute of Medical Sciences , Lahore, Pakistan
http://www.x-cd.com/isid08/prof2828.html
Propolis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Propolis is a resinous mixture that bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources.
It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. Propolis is used for small gaps (approximately 6.35 millimeters (0.3 in) or less), while larger spaces are usually filled with beeswax.
Its color varies depending on its botanical source, the most common being dark brown. Propolis is sticky at and above room temperature. At lower temperatures it becomes hard and very brittle.
For centuries, beekeepers assumed [1]that bees sealed the beehive with propolis to protect the colony from the elements, such as rain and cold winter drafts.
However, 20th century research has revealed that bees not only survive, but also thrive, with increased ventilation during the winter months throughout most temperate regions of the world.
Propolis is now believed to:
reinforce the structural stability of the hive
thus
reduce vibration
make the hive more defensible by sealing alternate entrances
prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive
... prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive
prevent putrefaction within the hive.
Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However if a small lizard or mouse, for example, found its way into the hive and died there, bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless.
In many Autochtones Oral Tradition ...
..the Queen send all available workers to pich up Propolis once Winter Fade...
It is said that the Bee Queen Traditions, obeserved with Perseverance of Autochtones in its learning process on Life of Bees, the priority of the Queen is First thig First, got get the lements so this Hive survive.
...and workers go get it and brings it back to the hive.
Autochtones Wisdom stated that picking up of propolis at the Hive, must be done short term alternance between the Queens Imperative and the pick up by the apuculturist, the Bee Human Guardian.
Feel free to post datas on Propolis.
Peace:magnify:
In 2007, research conducted at the Linus Pauling Institute and published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine indicates that inside the human body, flavonoids themselves are of little or no direct antioxidant value.[6]
Unlike in the controlled conditions of a test tube, flavonoids are poorly absorbed by the human body (less than 5%), and most of what is absorbed is quickly metabolized and excreted from the body.
The huge increase in antioxidant capacity of blood seen after the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods is not caused directly by the flavonoids themselves, but most likely is due to increased uric acid levels that result from expelling flavonoids from the body.[2]
According to Frei, "we can now follow the activity of flavonoids in the body, and one thing that is clear is that the body sees them as foreign compounds and is trying to get rid of them. But this process of gearing up to get rid of unwanted compounds is inducing so-called Phase II enzymes that also help eliminate mutagens and carcinogens, and therefore may be of value in cancer prevention... Flavonoids could also induce mechanisms that help kill cancer cells and inhibit tumor invasion."[2]
Their research also indicated that only small amounts of flavonoids are necessary to see these medical benefits.
Taking large dietary supplements provides no extra benefit and may pose some risks.[2]
Diarrhea
A study done at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland, in collaboration with scientists at Heinrich Heine University in Germany, has shown that epicatechin, quercetin and luteolin can inhibit the development of fluids that result in diarrhea by targeting the intestinal cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator Cl– transport inhibiting cAMP-stimulated Cl– secretion in the intestine.[7]
Important flavonoids
This article or section needs to be updated.
Please update the article to reflect recent events / newly available information, and remove this template when finished.
[edit]Quercetin
Main article: quercetin
Quercetin
Quercetin is a flavonoid and, to be more specific, a flavonol (see below), that constitutes the aglycone of the glycosides rutin and quercitrin.
In studies, quercetin is found to be the most active of the flavonoids,[citation needed] and many medicinal plants owe much of their activity to their high quercetin content.
Quercetin has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity because of direct inhibition of several initial processes of inflammation. For example, quercetin inhibits both the production and release of histamine and other allergic/inflammatory mediators.[citation needed] In addition, it exerts potent antioxidant activity and vitamin C-sparing action. It may also help to prevent some types of cancer. Quercetin can be found in the herbal products based on Hawthorn, which are used for acute symptoms of congestive heart failure.[citation needed] One study that people who ate quercetin-rich foods at least four times a week, on average, were 51% less likely to have lung cancer than those who ate none.[citation needed]
[edit]Epicatechin
Epicatechin (EC)
Epicatechin improves blood flow and thus seems good for cardiac health.
Cocoa, the major ingredient of dark chocolate, contains relatively high amounts of epicatechin and has been found to have nearly twice the antioxidant content of red wine and up to three times that of green tea in in-vitro tests.[8] [9]
But in the test outlined above it now appears the beneficial antioxidant effects are minimal as the antioxidants are rapidly excreted from the body.
[edit]Oligomeric proanthocyanidins
Proanthocyanidins extracts demonstrate a wide range of pharmacological activity.
Their effects include increasing intracellular vitamin C levels, decreasing capillary permeability and fragility, scavenging oxidants and free radicals, and inhibiting destruction of collagen, the most abundant protein in the body.
[edit]Important dietary sources
This article or section needs to be updated.
Please update the article to reflect recent events / newly available information, and remove this template when finished.
Good sources of flavonoids include all citrus fruits, berries, ginkgo biloba, onions[10][11], parsley[12], pulses[13], tea (especially white and green tea), red wine, seabuckthorn, and dark chocolate (with a cocoa content of seventy percent or greater).
[edit]Citrus
Grapefruit, a type of Citrus
The citrus bioflavonoids include hesperidin (a glycoside of the flavanone hesperetin), quercitrin, rutin (two glycosides of the flavonol quercetin), and the flavone tangeritin. In addition to possessing antioxidant activity and an ability to increase intracellular levels of vitamin C, rutin and hesperidin exert beneficial effects on capillary permeability and blood flow. They also exhibit some of the anti-allergy and anti-inflammatory benefits of quercetin.
Quercetin can also inhibit reverse transcriptase, part of the replication process of retroviruses.[14] The therapeutical relevance of this inhibition has not been established. Hydroxyethylrutosides (HER) have been used in the treatment of capillary permeability, easy bruising, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.
[edit]Ginkgo
Leaf extract from the Ginkgo tree is widely marketed as an herbal supplement. The active ingredients are flavoglycosides.
[edit]Tea
Bai Hao Yinzhen from Fuding in Fujian Province, widely considered the best grade of white tea
Green tea flavonoids are potent antioxidant compounds, thought to reduce incidence of cancer and heart disease. The major flavonoids in green tea are the kaempferol and catechins (catechin, epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)).
In producing teas such as oolong tea and black tea, the leaves are allowed to oxidize, during which enzymes present in the tea convert some or all of the catechins to larger molecules. However, green tea is produced by steaming the fresh-cut leaf, which inactivates these enzymes, and oxidation does not significantly occur. White tea is the least processed of teas and is shown to present the highest amount of catechins known to occur in camellia sinensis.
[edit]Wine
Grape skins contain significant amounts of flavonoids as well as other polyphenols[15]. Both red and white wine contain flavonoids; however, since red wine is produced by fermentation in the presence of the grape skins, red wine has been observed to contain higher levels of flavonoids, and other polyphenolics such as resveratrol.
[edit]Dark chocolate
Flavanoids exist naturally in cacao, but because they can be bitter, they are often removed from chocolate, even the dark variety[16].
[edit]Subgroups
Over 5000 naturally occurring flavonoids have been characterized from various plants. They have been classified according to their chemical structure, and are usually subdivided into the following subgroups (for further reading see [3]):
[edit]Flavones
Flavones are divided into four groups:[17]
Group Skeleton Examples
Description Functional groups Structural formula
3-hydroxyl 2,3-dihydro
Flavone 2-phenylchromen-4-one
Luteolin, Apigenin, Tangeritin
Flavonol
or
3-hydroxyflavone 3-hydroxy-2-phenylchromen-4-one
Quercetin, Kaempferol, Myricetin, Fisetin, Isorhamnetin, Pachypodol, Rhamnazin
Flavanone 2,3-dihydro-2-phenylchromen-4-one
Hesperetin, Naringenin, Eriodictyol, Homoeriodictyol
Flavanonol
or
3-Hydroxyflavanone
or
2,3-dihydroflavonol 3-hydroxy-2,3-dihydro-2-phenylchromen-4-one
Taxifolin (or Dihydroquercetin), Dihydrokaempferol
[edit]Isoflavones
Isoflavones
Isoflavones use the 3-phenylchromen-4-one skeleton (with no hydroxyl group substitution on carbon at position 2).
Examples: Genistein, Daidzein, Glycitein
[edit]Flavan-3-ols and Anthocyanidins
Flavan-3-ols (also known as Flavanols)
Flavan-3-ols use the 2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-chromen-3-ol skeleton.
Examples: Catechins (Catechin (C), Gallocatechin (GC), Catechin 3-gallate (Cg), Gallocatechin 3-gallate (GCg)), Epicatechins (Epicatechin (EC), Epigallocatechin (EGC), Epicatechin 3-gallate (ECg), Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCg))
Anthocyanidins
Anthocyanidins are the aglycones of anthocyanins. Anthocyanidins use the flavylium (2-phenylchromenylium) ion skeleton
Examples: Cyanidin, Delphinidin, Malvidin, Pelargonidin, Peonidin, Petunidin
[edit]Availability through microorganisms
A number of recent research articles have demonstrated the efficient production of flavonoid molecules from genetically-engineered microorganisms[18][19].
[edit]See also
Phytochemistry
Phytoalexin
[edit]References
^ Flavonoids (isoflavonoids and neoflavonoids)., IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology
^ a b c d "Studies force new view on biology of flavonoids", by David Stauth, EurekAlert!. Adapted from a news release issued by Oregon State University. URL accessed .
^ a b c Ververidis Filippos; Trantas Emmanouil, Douglas Carl, Vollmer Guenter, Kretzschmar Georg, Panopoulos Nickolas (October 2007). "Biotechnology of flavonoids and other phenylpropanoid-derived natural products. Part I: Chemical diversity, impacts on plant biology and human health". Biotechnology Journal 2 (10).
^ "Therapeutic potential of inhibition of the NF-κB pathway in the treatment of inflammation and cancer". Yamamoto and Gaynor 107 (2): 135 -- Journal of Clinical Investigation.
^ Cushnie TPT, Lamb AJ (2005). "Antimicrobial activity of flavonoids". International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 26 (5): 343-356. doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2005.09.002. PMID 16323269.
^ Lotito SB, Frei B (2006). "Consumption of flavonoid-rich foods and increased plasma antioxidant capacity in humans: cause, consequence, or epiphenomenon?". Free Radic. Biol. Med. 41 (12): 1727–46. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2006.04.033. PMID 17157175.
^ Schuier, Maximilian; Helmut Sies, Beate Illek, and Horst Fischer (October 2005). "Cocoa-Related Flavonoids Inhibit CFTR-Mediated Chloride Transport across T84 Human Colon Epithelia" (PDF). Journal of Nutrition 135 (10).
^ J. Agric.Food Chem. (2003) 51: Lee et al.
^ "Cocoa nutrient for 'lethal ills'". BBC News.
^ Tsushida T., Suzuki, M. (1996) Content of flavonol glucosides and some properties of enzymes metabolizing the glucosides in onion. J. Jap. Soc. Food Sci. Technol., 43, 642-649.
^ Slimestad R, Fossen T, Vågen IM. (2007) Onions: a source of unique dietary flavonoids. J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Dec 12;55(25):10067-80. Epub 2007 Nov 13. PMID 17997520
^ Justesen, U., and Knuthsen, P. Composition of flavonoids in fresh herbs and calculation of flavonoid intake by use of herbs in traditional Danish dishes. Food Chem., 2001, 73, 245-250. PMID 11192169
^ Ewald, C., Fjelkner-Modig, S., Johansson, K., Sjöholm, I., and Åkesson. B. Effect of processing on major flavonoids in processed onions, green beans, and peas. Food Chem., 1999, 64, 231-235.
^ Spedding, G., Ratty, A., Middleton, E. Jr. (1989) Inhibition of reverse transcriptases by flavonoids. Antiviral Res 12 (2), 99-110. PMID
^ James A. Kennedy, Mark A. Matthews, and Andrew L. Waterhouse, Effect of Maturity and Vine Water Status on Grape Skin and Wine Flavonoids Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 53:4:) (abstract)
^ Editorial. 'The devil in the dark chocolate.' The Lancet. 2007; 370:2070 [1]
^ Phenolics:figure 4
^ Hwang EI, Kaneko M, Ohnishi Y, Horinouchi S. Production of plant-specific flavanones by Escherichia coli containing an artificial gene cluster. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2003 May;69(5): PMID
^ Ververidis Filippos; Trantas Emmanouil, Douglas Carl, Vollmer Guenter, Kretzschmar Georg, Panopoulos Nickolas (October 2007). "Biotechnology of flavonoids and other phenylpropanoid-derived natural products. Part II: Reconstruction of multienzyme pathways in plants and microbes". Biotechnology Journal 2 (10).
[edit]External links
USDA Database of Flavonoid content of food (pdf)
Flavonoids (chemistry)
Flavonoids (chemistry)
Cornell news on Cocoa
A Dark Chocolate a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Antioxidant in Green Tea may fight Alzheimer's-EGCG
Therapeutic potential of the NF-kB pathway in the treatment of inflammatory disorders
[show]
v • d • e
Types of Phenylpropanoids
[show]
v • d • e
Types of Flavonoids
Categories: Flavonoids Nutrients Nutrition Dietary antioxidants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavanoid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Propolis is a resinous mixture that bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources.
It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. Propolis is used for small gaps (approximately 6.35 millimeters (0.3 in) or less), while larger spaces are usually filled with beeswax.
Its color varies depending on its botanical source, the most common being dark brown. Propolis is sticky at and above room temperature. At lower temperatures it becomes hard and very brittle.
For centuries, beekeepers assumed [1]that bees sealed the beehive with propolis to protect the colony from the elements, such as rain and cold winter drafts.
However, 20th century research has revealed that bees not only survive, but also thrive, with increased ventilation during the winter months throughout most temperate regions of the world.
Composition
The composition of propolis will vary from hive to hive, district to district, and from season to season.
Normally it is dark brown in color, but it can be found in green, red, black and white hues, depending on the sources of resin found in the particular hive area.
Honey bees are opportunists, and will gather what they need from available sources, and detailed analyses show that propolis chemical composition varies considerably from region to region, along with the vegetation.
In northern temperate climates, for example, bees collect resins from trees, such as poplars and conifers (the biological role of resin in trees is to seal wounds and defend against bacteria, fungi and insects).
Poplar resin is rich in flavanoids.
"Typical" northern temperate propolis has approximately 50 constituents,
primarily resins and vegetable balsams (50%),
waxes (30%),
essential oils (10%),
and pollen (5%).
In neotropical regions, in additional to a large variety of trees, bees may also gather resin from flowers in the genera Clusia and Dalechampia, which are the only known plant genera that produce floral resins to attract pollinators[2]. Clusia resin contains polyprenylated benzophenones.[3][4][5] In some areas of Chile, propolis contains viscidone, a terpene from Baccharis shrubs[6], and in Brazil, naphthoquinone epoxide has recently isolated from red propolis[7], and prenylated acids such as 4-hydroxy-3,5-diprenyl cinnamic acid have been documented[8]. An analysis of propolis from Henan, China found sinapic acid, isoferulic acid, caffeic acid and chrysin, with the first three compounds demonstrating anti-bacterial properties[9]. Occasionally worker bees will even gather various caulking compounds of human manufacture, when the usual sources are more difficult to obtain. The properties of the propolis depend on the exact sources used by each individual hive, therefore any potential medicinal properties that may be present in one hive's propolis may be absent from another's, and the distributors of propolis products cannot control such factors. This may account for the many and varied claims regarding medicinal properties, and the difficulty in replicating previous scientific studies investigating these claims. Even propolis samples taken from within a single colony can vary, making controlled clinical tests difficult, and the results of any given study cannot be reliably extrapolated to propolis samples from other areas.
The Hive Queen, Eclectic, Pramagtic Health Director
This makes me wonder if this isn't somehow related to the colony collapse disorder, which is seen mostly among the commercial bees.
the risk of bacterial pneumonia ?
My grandmother handed down a recipe for whooping cough; it contains honey, lemon and flax seed. She was convinced it helped when her kids were young (in the early 1920's).
#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.# |
