New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts
The sensitivity of mastitis-causing bacteria to the antibacterial activity of
honey
K. L. ALLEN
P. C. MOLAN
Honey Research Unit
Department of Biological Sciences
The University of Waikato
Private Bag 3105
Hamilton, New Zealand
Abstract The use of honey as a wound dressing is well
established in traditional and modern medicine. There are many reports of its
effectiveness in clearing bacterial infections in ulcers and abscesses, which
suggest that it may be suitable for the intramammary treatment of mastitis. To
evaluate this possibility, the species of bacteria that commonly cause mastitis
in dairy cows were tested for their sensitivity to the antibacterial activity
of honey. The growth of all seven species tested was completely inhibited by a
typical honey (with antibacterial activity attributed to its content of
hydrogen peroxide) at a concentration of 10% (v/v) in the agar plates, and two
by 5% honey. Six of the species were completely inhibited by a typical manuka
honey (with antibacterial activity attributed to its content of a non-peroxide
component) at a concentration of 5% (v/v). Only one species was inhibited by
10% (v/v) artificial honey (sugars and gluconic acid as in honey). As honey is
harmless to tissues and would leave no undesirable residues in milk, it would
be of interest to now evaluate it therapeutically in clinical mastitis.
Keywords honey; mastitis; antibacterial
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 1997, Vol. 40: 537-540
0028-8233/97/4004-0537 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1997
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (340K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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