Rizwan Mahmood¹, Wan Nazatul Shima Shahidana^1*

¹School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia

*Corresponding address: School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia

Email: shima@usm.my

Received: 28 February 2024 / Revised: 29 April 2024 / Accepted: 08 May 2024 / Available Online: 10 June 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63137/jsteam.256955

ABSTRACT

Objective: Honey is a naturally occurring resource with a long history of being utilized as complementary medicine. The generation of hydrogen peroxide by enzymes in most kinds of honey provides antibacterial action. However, another species of honey has significant antibacterial properties against some microorganisms. Therefore, this study aims to assess the antimicrobial effect of stingless bee (trigona itama) honey (kelulut) on S. aureus, E. faecalis, S. mutans and E. coli.

Methods: The honey was sourced locally in raw form and sent for decontamination by gamma irradiation which was achieved by exposing it to a dose of 25 kGy. The antimicrobial screening was carried out using the agar well diffusion technique, and concentrations of honey selected for this purpose were 1%, 5%, 10%, and 20%.

Results: The results demonstrated that Kelulut honey did not show any antimicrobial effect against the tested pathogens, which disagrees with numerous studies reported earlier. This preliminary data provides valuable insights as specific Gram-positive oral pathogens are resistant to the antimicrobial capability of Kelulut honey.

Conclusion: Kelulut honey could not demonstrate antimicrobial properties on the agar well diffusion method. Further research needs to be conducted to determine the accurate concentration of KH needed to inhibit virulent bacteria. Future research should evaluate KH samples with characterised bioactive profiles (phenolics, flavonoids, organic acids) at concentrations of 30–100%, both in raw and gamma-irradiated forms, to determine whether the null result reflects sub-threshold dosing, irradiation-related degradation of bioactive compounds, or inherent species-specific limitations.

Keywords: Honey; Trigona itama; Stingless Bee; Antimicrobial Activity; Agar Well Diffusion; Gram-Positive Bacteria; Oral Pathogens

Data Availability: The data supporting this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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How to Cite: Mahmood R, Shahidan WNS. Effect of Stingless-Bee (Trigona Itama) Honey Against Selected Gram-Positive Oral Pathogens. J Sci Technol Educ Art Med. 2024;1(1):9-15