Cronicon OPEN ACCESS EC MICROBIOLOGY EC MICROBIOLOGY Research Article Antimicrobial Activity of Honey against Bacterial Isolates Associated with Wound Infections Citation: EJ Olotu., et al. “Antimicrobial Activity of Honey against Bacterial Isolates Associated with Wound Infections”. EC Microbiology 16.5 (2020): 33-52. EJ Olotu 2 *, JO Aribisala 1 , MK Oladunmoye 1 , OI Afolami 1 , O Oluyele 2 , OR Ojo 2 and HT Oluwayomi 1 1 Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria 2 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria *Corresponding Author: EJ Olotu, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. Received: February 24, 2020; Published: April 28, 2020 Abstract Keywords: Inhibitory; Antibiotics; Minimum Bactericidal Concentration; Multidrug Resistance; Phytochemical; Photometry The emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria strains constitutes a global public health challenge. Alternative antimicrobial sources like plants and plant based products such as honey have currently gained considerable attention. Due to the varieties of hon- ey that exist and major classifications being used on geographical location and floral source, it was observed that only few varieties of honey with popular sources have been tested and affirmed to possess antimicrobial activities. This study therefore investigated the antibacterial potentials of honey from five different sources against selected clinical bacterial isolates associated with wound infec- tions and their corresponding typed isolates, viz: Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Citrobacter freundii and Acinetobacter baumannii. The organisms were cultured on appropriate media and subjected to various biochemical tests to confirm their identities. The honey samples were screened for phytochemical constituents using standard chemical methods. The antibacterial activity of honey was assayed using Agar well diffusion technique. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined by standard microbiological techniques. Determination of killing rate on the bacteria was performed by time-kill kinetic assay. Determination of sodium and potassium ions leakage was evaluated using flame photometry. The qualitative phytochemical screening of the honey samples revealed the presence of various phyto constituents, including: Tannins, Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Sapo- nin, Phlobatannins and Terpenoid. The isolates demonstrated varying resistance to the commercially available antibiotics employed in this study. The mean zone of inhibition of the honey against the typed isolates ranged between 4.00 ± 0.00 a and 20.00 ± 0.3 c ; While that for the clinical isolates ranged between 2.00 ± 01.4 b and 14.00 ± 0.8 c . Amongst the five honeys evaluated in this study, only honey from apiaries in Oyo State and Kwara State showed inhibitory effect on the growth of the studied pathogens. The honeys exhibited concentration dependent inhibition against the test isolates, with honey from Oyo State showing the highest efficacy with zone of inhibition 20.00 ± 0.3 c against typed isolate of Proteus mirabilis ATCC 29906. The honey used in this study compared favorably with Amoxicillin, Chloramphenicol, Augumentin, Amplicox and Zinnacef antibiotics. Investigation of the rate of killing of the honey re- vealed that the honey had an appreciable killing rate against the test bacterial isolates. Findings from this study proved two varieties of honey to be effective against wound associated antibiotic resistant bacteria; being able to inhibit the growth of all test organisms at varying concentrations. Natural products like honey hold a great potential in combating the challenge of antibiotics resistance. Further exploration into the effect of honey in living systems by in vivo experiments should be pursued.