Antifungal and Anti-bacterial Synergistic Effects of Mixture of Honey and Herbal Extracts

By increasing resistance of several bacterial and fungal species to many kinds of antibiotics, applications of natural base compounds e.g. honey and medicinal herbs have been more attractive. The aim of present research is evaluation of anti-bacterial and anticandida effects of three kinds of honey of Iran together with alcoholic extract of mint and zataria, as well as extract and starch of ginger on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aueoginosa, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans, as pathogens of human body. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum additive inhibitory concentration (MAIC) were determined by the agar diffusion method by dilution method in Sabouraud agar. By inoculation of 10 μL from suspension and appearance of colorless vesicles, MIC was determined. Growth inhibition was calculated by ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U and t-student tests. All experiments were conducted three times. MIC for three variety of honey on Staphylococcus aureus (32, 30, 29 %v/v), Pseudomonas aeroginosa, (70, 67, 71 % v/v), Escherichia coli (40, 35, 39 % v/v) and Candida albicans (45, 48, 50 % v/v) are reported. While, the MAIC for the growth inhibition of honeys together with extract of mint and zataria, as well as extract and starch of ginger were reduced. The results show that ginger extract has more significant impact on microorganism growth with respect to others. Pseudomonas aeroginosa was the most susceptible microorganisms to ginger extract. Growth inhibitory effect of ginger extract was more significant than ginger starch. Addition of herbal extract increases antibacterial and anticandida properties of honey thus letting hope for a honey benefit and would constitute an alternative way against the resistance to bacteria.