In the trend of the use of antimicrobial compounds from natural and renewable resources, natural antimicrobial compounds, particularly found in food and with potential biomedical applications, are of highest interest. In this context, the contribution by Brudzynski et al. to our special issue on “antimicrobial compounds from natural sources” deserves a special attention not only for giving insi...

BACKGROUND The nutritional value of honey is a factor that encourages the increase of its consumption. The aim of the study was to identify consumers' behaviours and preferences towards honey and their determinants. METHODS Quantitative (PAPI method) survey was carried out in 2015 on a sample of 690 respondents from Mazowieckie, Podkarpackie and Zachodniopomorskie voivodeships. The data analy...

Honey is usually subjected to filtration and heating for bottling before commercialization. However, there is no standard procedure available for thermal treatment on honey. Honey is thermally heated at various temperature and duration based on individual experience to prolong the shelf life of honey in the market. The heating methods might decrease the biochemical components such as nutrients,...

BACKGROUND Some honey types in certain geographical regions may cause toxic effects on people. This type of honey is known as "mad honey" in Turkey. The toxic ingredient of this honey is called Grayanotoxin I. The consumption of mad honey can cause severe bradycardia, hypotension, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. AIMS Our study is aimed at analysing patients diagnosed with mad honey poisoning ...

BACKGROUND Honey is an ancient remedy for the treatment of infected wounds, which has recently been 'rediscovered' by the medical profession. The use to which honey is put in medical care is increasing daily with many authors pointing out its importance and role in wound care. There have been reports that honey contains many microorganisms including bacteria and fungi. OBJECTIVE The aim of th...

Chronic wounds afford a hostile environment of damaged tissues that allow bacterial proliferation and further wound colonization. Escherichia coli is among the most common colonizers of infected wounds and it is a prolific biofilm former. Living in biofilm communities, cells are protected, become more difficult to control and eradicate, and less susceptible to antibiotic therapy. This work pres...

Natural honey is an ancient remedy in folk medicine around the world particularly where conventional and modern therapeutic agents fail. Here we report antibacterial potential of a number of unifloral and multifloral natural honey samples produced in Pakistan. Honey samples were collected from colonies of Apis mallifera and Apis cerana bees foraged on Acacia modesta, Plactranthus speices, Zizip...

Honey: This topic has been extensively reviewed by Bogdanov, online article with original references on www.bee-hexagon.net/files/file/fileE/Honey/7HoneyNutrientFunctional.pdf The antibacterial effect of honey, mostly against gram-positive bacteria, both bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects have been reported, against many strains, many of which are pathogenic. Honey glucose oxidase produces...

Use of honey has a very long history. Honey has been used since ancient time due to its nutritional and therapeutic values. There had been varied ways of consumption honey including its use as a sweetener and flavoring agent. Honey is produced all over the world. The most important nutriment of honey is carbohydrates present in the form of monosaccharides, fructose and glucose. Honey plays an i...

Although most of humanity relies upon foods that do not require animal pollination [1], production of 39 of the world’s 57 most important monoculture crops still benefits from this ecosystem service [2]. Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) are undoubtedly the singlemost valuable animal pollinators to agriculture because they can be easily maintained and transported to pollinator-dependent crops...