Medicina Alternativa e Integrativa

Minimum Inhibitory and Bactericidal Concentrations (MIC and MBC) of Honey and Bee Propolis against Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus sp. Isolated from Bovine Clinical Mastitis

Abstract

Aamer AA, Abdul-Hafeez MM and Sayed SM

With the emergence of antibiotic-resistant Staph. sp., search for antimicrobial agents other than antibiotic is of great concern. The study aimed to determine both MIC and MBC of different honey samples against these strains. The study was conducted with 64 different Staph sp. isolated from bovine mastitis and tested in vitro against 11 antimicrobial agents. The most MDR strains (19) were tested in vitro against six honey batches; marjoram, cotton, two fennel samples and two different trefoil samples as well as against 10% propolis-fennel honey mixture. Both MIC & MBC of the tested honey samples against every tested strain were determined. Propolis-fennel honey mixture showed the lowest both MIC & MBC values against all Staph sp. all over the study with highly significant differences, while against different Staph sp., also it had the lowest MIC and MBC values against S. intermedius followed by S. aureus. The study revealed that among the different Staph. sp., S. aureus was the most sensitive species to the honey antimicrobial action with highly significant differences. The study concluded that all tested Staph. sp. –despite of being MDR- were sensitive to the antimicrobial activity of all tested honeys where S. aureus was the most sensitive one, while adding 10% propolis powder would maximize its antimicrobial activity significantly