Effect of Natural Honey (Produced by African sculata in Guyana) Against Bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and Fungus (Candida albicans)

Honey is among many of the natural products that have been used to treat various aliments such as burns and ulcers since ancient times. Honey is also applied to treat burns based on research carried out earlier. In Guyana, honey is mainly used for coughs and colds. This research was carried out during the year 2006-2007 to investigate the anti-fungal and antibacterial action of honey produced by African sculata obtained in Guyana against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas species, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans, a fungus. Biochemical analysis of honey depends on the plant species on which the bees forage confirms to the earlier works (White, et al., 1962). The present studies indicate strongly that the honey in pure form (with out dilution), was effective against bacteria: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericha coli and Staphylococcus aureus using the disk diffusion technique. However, the disk diffusion method had negative effect on the fungus Candida albicans. The results were conclusively substantiated by ANOVA analysis where the data was found to be highly significant at probability level of 0.05.