In Vitro Prebiotic Effects and Antibacterial Activity of Five Leguminous Honeys

Abstract

Honey is a natural remedy for various health conditions. It exhibits a prebiotic effect on the gut microbiome, including lactobacilli, essential for maintaining gut health and regulating the im-mune system. In addition, monofloral honey can show peculiar therapeutic properties. We in-vestigated some legumes honey’s prebiotic properties and potential antimicrobial action against different pathogens. We assessed the prebiotic potentiality of honey by evaluating the antioxidant activity, the growth, and the in vitro adhesion of Lacticaseibacillus casei, Lactobacillus gasseri, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus intact cells. We also tested the honey’s capacity to inhibit or limit the biofilm produced by five pathogenic strains. Finally, we assessed the anti-biofilm activity of the growth medium of probiotics cultured with honey as an energy source. Most probiotics increased their growth or the in vitro adhesion ability to 84.13% and 48.67%, respectively. Overall, alfalfa honey best influenced the probiotic strains’ growth and in vitro adhesion properties. Their radical-scavenging activity arrived at 83.7%. All types of honey increased the antioxidant activity of the probiotic cells, except for the less sensitive L. plantarum. Except for a few cases, we observed a bio-film-inhibitory action of all legumes’ honey, with percentages up to 81.71%. Carob honey was the most effective in inhibiting the biofilm of Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus; it retained almost entirely the ability to act against the bio-film of E. coli, L. monocytogenes, and S. aureus also when added to the bacterial growth medium instead of glucose. On the other hand, alfalfa and astragalus honey exhibited greater efficacy in acting against the biofilm of Acinetobacter baumannii. Indigo honey, whose biofilm-inhibitory action was fragile per se, was very effective when we added it to the culture broth of L. casei, whose supernatant exhibited an anti-biofilm activity against all the pathogenic strains tested. Conclusions: the five kinds of honey in different ways can improve some prebiotic properties and have an inhibitory biofilm effect when consumed.

New Insights in Prebiotic Utilization: A Systematic Review

“…In an attempt to demonstrate the prebiotic effect of five types of legume honey and the probiotic effect on L. rhamnosus and L. paracasei, ref. [29] used astragalus, carob, alfalfa, sainfoin, and indigo honey in their research. They concluded that the polyphenols present in these types of honey show a prebiotic potential on L. rhamnosus and L. paracasei strains with antagonistic action towards the five most dangerous pathogens depending on the type of honey.…”

Chemical Characterization and Biological Properties of Leguminous Honey

“…Following the method of Fratianni et al [29], an aliquot from each of the three samples of honey was vigorously mixed with Milli-Q water (1:4 w/v), filtered (0.45 µm; Millipore, Milano, Italy), and subjected to the biochemical analyses.…”

“…Free-radical-scavenging activity was determined in microplates through the diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test (29). Samples (15.15 µL) were mixed with 303 µL of a methanol solution of DPPH (153 mM).…”

“…The recommencement of legume cultivation, particularly in some areas of the Italian territory, such as the central and southern regions, increased the production of ancient varieties, which can contribute to the safeguarding of plant biodiversity and the discovery of other legume derivatives, such as honey, with intriguing health properties. Previous work has demonstrated that some kinds of legume honey are effective in contrasting the mature biofilms of some pathogens, which is of interest to food and health, and, concurrently, in stimulating the growth and some functional properties of different probiotic bacteria [29]. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were as follows: (i) to increase the knowledge of some biochemical characteristics (total polyphenols, the qualitative-quantitative profile of polyphenols, the dosage of vitamin C content, and VOCs profiles) of five legume honeys; (ii) to evaluate their potential healthy properties by studying their in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and inhibitory activity with respect to AChE, BChE, and tyrosinase.…”

Multi-Element Profile Characterization of Monofloral and Polyfloral Honey from Latvia

“…Interestingly, our study supports the notion that most Cu and Zn is bound to proteins, likely exceeding 10 kDa in size. Honey has been confirmed to offer various health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties [81], antioxidative effects [82], antibacterial properties [83], support for gastric and digestive health [84], cancer prevention potential [85], cancer treatment possibilities [86], and benefits for skin care [87]. Additionally, honey contains several other important compounds, such as polyphenols [88], water-soluble vitamins [89], free amino acids [90], and enzymes [91].…”