Functional and Biological Properties of the Bee Products: a Review

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 the antibacterial agent hydrogen peroxide, while another enzyme, catalase breaks it down. Honey with a high catalase activity have a low antibacterial peroxide activity. Honey has both peroxide and non peroxide antibacterial action, with different non-peroxide antibacterial substances involved: acidic, basic or neutral (Bogdanov, 1997). Antimicrobial effect of honey is thus due to different substances e.g. aromatic acids (Russell et al., 1988) and compounds with different chemical properties (Dustmann, 1978; Dustmann, 1979; Bogdanov, 1997) and depends on the botanical origin of honey (Molan, 1992a; Molan, 1992b; Bogdanov, 1997; Molan, 1997).