Floral Markers of Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) Honey and Its Peroxide Antibacterial Activity for an Alternative Treatment of Digital Dermatitis

Abstract

Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) honey can be characterized by a greenish yellow color and an intense flavor with a bitter aftertaste. Because cornflower honey contains only a limited amount of pollen for the verification of its floral origin, one objective was the characterization of its polyphenol and norisoprenoid contents to assign floral markers. Here, lumichrome (18.8-43.5 mg/kg), 7-carboxylumichrome, (Z/E)-3-oxo-retro-α-ionol, and 3-oxo-α-ionol appeared to be quite suitable for distinguishing cornflower honey from other unifloral honeys. Additionally, due to its comparably high hydrogen peroxide content (0.5-0.9 mM/h) and the associated antibacterial activity, cornflower honey was used as an alternative treatment of digital dermatitis on an organic dairy farm. Cows affected by this hoof disease often show severe lameness and a subsequent decline in milk yield and loss of body condition. The cows' hooves treated with cornflower honey showed significantly faster healing than the control group without any treatment.

Pathogen-associated self-medication behavior in the honeybee Apis mellifera

“…Sunflower honey was more frequently chosen by the infected than by the noninfected nurse bees, with a 57 % increase in attractivity in choice tests with honeydew. Its higher antimicrobial activity might be explained by its much higher H 2 O 2 concentration compared to black locust and honeydew honey (Oelschlaegel et al 2012), which was confirmed by the bacterial growth inhibition assay (Fig. 2).…”

The antibacterial hydrogen peroxide generation from Ziziphus Spina Christi and Acacia spp. honey

“…Honey is not only used as a nutritional product but is also described in traditional medicine as an alternative treatment. Honey and hydrogen peroxide are well-known antibacterial agents, in which the bactericidal activity of honey is attributed to several factors including viscosity, osmolality and the generation of hydrogen peroxide (Oelschlaegel et al, 2012). We selected these two honey samples because they represent the most common and…”

“…The bactericidal effect of honey is attributed to its osmolality, acidity and viscosity. However, more recent studies attributed the antibacterial activity of most honey to the hydrogen peroxide generated enzymatically by the action of honey glucose oxidase (GOX) (Brudzynski et al, 2012;Oelschlaegel et al, 2012;Anthimidou et al, 2013), an enzyme that is secreted from the bee's pharyngeal gland . In honey, the GOX enzyme is activated by dilution and the peroxide produced is too mild to cause tissue injury, but it still has antimicrobial activity (Brudzynski et al, 2012).…”

Chromatographic fingerprint of the volatile fraction of rare Hedera helix honey and biomarkers identification

“…These small-molecular compounds are deciding about taste, dietary and therapeutic value of honeys. The knowledge of the structure and content of volatile compounds in various types of honey might result in a better understanding of honey's flavor and nutrient, as well as-even more important-their therapeutic value [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Investigation of volatile compounds of honey seem to be the right solution, which might help to standardize the quality and authenticity of the product [14].…”