Journal article
The Antibacterial Activity of Australian Leptospermum Honey Correlates with Methylglyoxal Levels
PLoS One, Vol.11(12), pp.1-14
2016
PMCID: PMC5193333
PMID: 28030589
Abstract
Most commercially available therapeutic honey is derived from flowering Leptospermum scoparium (manuka) plants from New Zealand. Australia has more than 80 Leptospermum species, and limited research to date has found at least some produce honey with high nonperoxide antibacterial activity (NPA) similar to New Zealand manuka, suggesting Australia may have a ready supply of medical-grade honey. The activity of manuka honey is largely due to the presence of methylglyoxal (MGO), which is produced non-enzymatically from dihydroxyacetone (DHA) present in manuka nectar. The aims of the current study were to chemically quantify the compounds contributing to antibacterial activity in a collection of Australian Leptospermum honeys, to assess the relationship between MGO and NPA in these samples, and to determine whether NPA changes during honey storage. Eighty different Leptospermum honey samples were analysed, and therapeutically useful NPA was seen in samples derived from species including L. liversidgei and L. polygalifolium. Exceptionally high levels of up to 1100 mg/kg MGO were present in L. polygalifolium honey samples sourced from the Northern Rivers region in NSW and Byfield, QLD, with considerable diversity among samples. There was a strong positive relationship between NPA and MGO concentration, and DHA was present in all of the active honey samples, indicating a potential for ongoing conversion to MGO. NPA was stable, with most samples showing little change following seven years of storage in the dark at 4ËšC. This study demonstrates the potentialfor Australian Leptospermum honey as a wound care product, and argues for an extension of this analysis to other Leptospermum species.
Details
- Title
- The Antibacterial Activity of Australian Leptospermum Honey Correlates with Methylglyoxal Levels
- Authors
- Nural N Cokcetin (Author) - University of Technology SydneyMatthew Pappalardo (Author) - University of Technology SydneyLeona T Campbell (Author) - The University of SydneyPeter R Brooks (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringDee A Carter (Author) - The University of SydneyShona E Blair (Author) - University of Technology SydneyElizabeth J Harry (Author) - University of Technology Sydney
- Publication details
- PLoS One, Vol.11(12), pp.1-14
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2016
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0167780
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- PMID
- 28030589; PMC5193333
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2016 Cokcetin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450361502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
87 File views/ downloads
964 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Food Science & Technology
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: SDGs from InCites