Evaluation of antimicrobial activity ofprobiotic bacteria isolated from honey

چکیده مقاله

Introduction:Probiotics are live bacteria of food supplements, which can restore natural balance of bowel bacteria and could also have other health benefits. Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium are the most commonly known bacteria. Probiotics present in honey could produce antibacterial agents, which can prevent pathogenic bacterial overgrowth with beneficial effects in Bowles. With increase in production of artificially prepared rather than the natural honey there is a risk of losing probiotics. Therefore it is essential that these bacteria are obtained from natural sources and added to the artificial products. Materials and Methods: Thirty samples of natural honey, obtained from different regions of Iran, were studied in this investigation. After gram stain and catalase test the tolerance of isolated to acids and bile salts were evaluated. Then Arginine lysis and carbohydrate fermentation tests were performed before determining the antibacterial activities of the isolates against four pathogenic species of bacterium (S. aureus, E. coli, B. cereus and P. aeruginosa) using disk diffusion method. Results: A Lactococcus and two Lactobacillus strains were isolated from the thirty honey samples. Biochemical tests were used to prove their probiotic properties and molecular methods, 16S rRNA PCR, were employed to determine the strain types. Conclusion:This study showed that probiotics obtained from natural sources are potential candidates, by controlling bacteria overgrowth, for disease presentation. However, more in vivo studies are necessary before they can be recommended for their beneficial effects in humans.