Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Efficacy of the Stingless Bee Honey from Dakshina Kannada District Regions against Gram Positive and Negative Strains

Stingless bee honey (SBH) is produced by tropical Meliponini bees. Beneficial qualities such as antibacterial, bacteriostatic, anti-inflammatory, neurotherapeutic, neuroprotective, and wound and sunburn healing effects have been demonstrated in studies. The advantages of SBH come from high quantities of phenolic acid and flavonoids. This study aims to assess the antibacterial efficacy SBH collected from six different regions of Dakshina Kannada district. The activity was studied against six bacterial strains; Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans. The antibacterial activity of honey samples was evaluated using agar well diffusion, broth dilution assay and biofilm inhibition assay. About 20 samples were collected from each area and the results are expressed as mean. The antibacterial efficacy of each examined sample varied, with inhibition zones ranging from 10 to 30 mm. When compared to other samples, Belthangady samples had the strongest antibacterial activity. Antibacterial activity was lower in Buntwal samples. We found that activity was higher against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. SBH showed antibacterial activity against all the strains tested. Further study needs to be confirmed with more samples and assays.