Honey as an antiseptic is one of those valid old wive’s tales – its medicinal properties have been documented in medical literature for millennia. Now, a team of researchers at Sweden’s Lund University have figured out why.
Thirteen lactic acid bacteria found in fresh honey – straight from the honey stomach of bees – produce an array of antimicrobial compounds. And when tested against pathogens like MRSA and enterococcus, they’ve been found to counteract every one, Lund University says.
Its efficacy against human bacteria has only been tested in a lab, but the lactic acid bacteria has also been applied to horses with persistent wounds, the university said. When mixing a dose of the bacteria with more honey and applied to 10 horses that had treatment-resistant, infected wounds, the researchers found that each horse’s wound was healed by the mixture.
They plan to expand this concept into a wider clinical study of honey on topical human and animal infections.
“Antibiotics are mostly one active substance, effective against only a narrow spectrum of bacteria,” researcher Tobias Olofsson said in a statement. “When used alive, these 13 lactic acid bacteria produce the right kind of antimicrobial compounds as needed, depending on the threat. It seems to have worked well for millions of years of protecting bees’ health and honey against other harmful microorganisms.”
He added, however, that store-bought honey doesn’t have the right living lactic acid bacteria in it, so many of its unique medicinal properties have recently been lost.
Such a treatment could have wide-reaching implications in both developing nations that have easy access to raw honey, as well as for developed nations with issues of antibiotic resistance.
