A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

Masalha, Mahmud; Abu-Lafi, Saleh; Abu-Farich, Basheer; Rayan, Mahmoud; Issa, Nael; Zeidan, Mouhammad; Rayan, Anwar

doi:10.3390/medicines5040135

Open AccessArticle

A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

by

Mahmud Masalha

^1,†,

Saleh Abu-Lafi

^2,†

,

Basheer Abu-Farich

^3,†,

Mahmoud Rayan

⁴,

Nael Issa

⁵

,

Mouhammad Zeidan

⁶ and

Anwar Rayan

^4,7,*

¹

Laboratory of Microbiology, QRC-Qasemi Research Center, Al-Qasemi Academic College, P.O. Box 124, Baka EL-Garbiah 30100, Israel

²

Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Quds University, Abu-Dies 144, Palestine

³

QRC-Qasemi Research Center, Al-Qasemi Academic College, P.O. Box 124, Baka EL-Garbiah 30100, Israel

⁴

Drug Discovery Informatics Lab, QRC-Qasemi Research Center, Al-Qasemi Academic College, Baka El-Garbiah 30100, Israel

⁵

Science Education Department, Al-Qasemi Academic College, P.O. Box 124, Baka EL-Garbiah 30100, Israel

⁶

Molecular Genetics and Virology Laboratory, QRC-Qasemi Research Center, Al-Qasemi Academic College, P.O. Box 124, Baka EL-Garbiah 30100, Israel

⁷

Institute of Applied Research-Galilee Society, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Medicines 2018, 5(4), 135; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines5040135

Submission received: 29 November 2018 / Revised: 7 December 2018 / Accepted: 10 December 2018 / Published: 17 December 2018

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds as Potential Antibacterial Agents)

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Abstract

Background: The goals of the current study were to address a new concept termed a health benefits’ index (HBI) and to verify the type of correlation between the pricing of honey and its HBI/medicinal properties. Diverse types of honey from different origins and places were investigated for their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Methods: We have utilized a modified protocol of the DPPH assay for measuring free radical scavenging and the microdilution test for the determination of antibacterial/antifungal minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). MICs were determined against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Candida albicans microorganisms. Employing a “combined benefits approach” enabled us to attach to each honey type a unique number of HBI that correlate with honey health and medicinal values. Results: The various types of honey demonstrated significant but variable antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal activities. Types of wildflower-labeled honey were found to have a wide range of HBI values and medicinal properties, probably due to their containing different nectar contents/phytochemicals. Moreover, an inconsiderable correlation was detected between the market prices of different types of honey and their HBIs. Conclusions: The proposed index of health benefits could be recalculated/updated following measurement of more and more medicinal properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer activities. This index could be used as an effective tool for consumers of honey to evaluate the real value of the purchased product.

Keywords: honey; antibacterial; antifungal; antioxidant; free radical scavenging; health benefits’ index

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MDPI and ACS Style

Masalha, M.; Abu-Lafi, S.; Abu-Farich, B.; Rayan, M.; Issa, N.; Zeidan, M.; Rayan, A. A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities. Medicines 2018, 5, 135. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines5040135

AMA Style

Masalha M, Abu-Lafi S, Abu-Farich B, Rayan M, Issa N, Zeidan M, Rayan A. A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities. Medicines. 2018; 5(4):135. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines5040135

Chicago/Turabian Style

Masalha, Mahmud, Saleh Abu-Lafi, Basheer Abu-Farich, Mahmoud Rayan, Nael Issa, Mouhammad Zeidan, and Anwar Rayan. 2018. "A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities" Medicines 5, no. 4: 135. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines5040135

APA Style

Masalha, M., Abu-Lafi, S., Abu-Farich, B., Rayan, M., Issa, N., Zeidan, M., & Rayan, A. (2018). A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities. Medicines, 5(4), 135. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines5040135

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A New Approach for Indexing Honey for Its Heath/Medicinal Benefits: Visualization of the Concept by Indexing Based on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

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