This study presents data on the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of honey-based topical formulations incorporating four Western Australian (WA) honeys along with New Zealand Manuka honey as a comparator honey. The antioxidant activity of the pure honeys and the various honey-loaded topical formulations were assessed by the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) derivatization. An optimised agar overlay assay was employed to determine the antibacterial activity of the pure honeys and honey-loaded topical formulations with a Trimethoprim antibiotic disc acting as a positive control. It was found that the antioxidant activity was retained in all formulation types irrespective of the honey that was utilized. WA Manuka honey 2 and its formulations showed the highest antioxidant activity in the FRAP assay with a recorded activity of 6.56, 6.54, 6.53 and 18.14 mmol Fe2+ equivalent/kg honey, its pre-gel solution, and its corresponding wet and dry sheets, respectively. Additionally, the band activity of WA Manuka honey 2 and its formulations was also found to be the highest activity with values equivalent to 29.30, 29.28, 29.27 and 81.30 µg of gallic acid/g honey, its pre-gel solution, and also its corresponding wet and dry sheets, respectively. In the overlay assay, the antibacterial activity of honey-loaded formulations was recorded to be comparable to that of their respective pure honeys. The findings of this study suggest that WA honeys and the investigated semi-solid topical formulations that were loaded with these honeys exert antibacterial and antioxidant activities that at times exceeded that of the NZ Manuka honey, which was used as a comparator in this study.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.