Researchers from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff said this week that honey from bees foraging on manuka trees in New Zealand have shown antimicrobial properties in in vitro lab experiments.

The study, according to Professor Rose Cooper, showed that this honey could be used as a “topical agent”, and when applied with antibiotics, it could be effective against certain “superbugs” that cause skin infections like MRSA.

According to Cooper, their initial findings show that medical grade manuka honey can stop bacteria from establishing themselves on tissue.

“Our findings with streptococci and pseudomonads [bacteria] suggest that manuka honey can hamper the attachment of bacteria to tissues which is an essential step in the initiation of acute infections. Inhibiting attachment also blocks the formation of biofilms, which can protect bacteria from antibiotics and allow them to cause persistent infections.”

She added: “Other work in our lab has shown that honey can make MRSA more sensitive to antibiotics such as oxacillin – effectively reversing antibiotic resistance. This indicates that existing antibiotics may be more effective against drug-resistant infections if used in combination with manuka honey.”

Of course, this initial work was done in a laboratory and clinical trials on patients would be required.

The findings were presented at the Society for General Microbiology.

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