Therapeutic activities of honey in wound care: a narrative review

Abstract

Honey is a natural product that has a sweet taste and rich in phenolic compounds. Honey also contains some other compounds such as enzymes, amino acids, proteins, sugars, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals. Honey has a potential as an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant activity. Honey has an important role in wound healing, with minimum trauma. Honey is an excellent option for wound care managements and useful in other biomedical applications. Some of the advantages of the use of honey for wound care are the accelerated of dermal repair and epithelialization, ability to increase angiogenesis and immune response, and capability to reduce infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms. This paper clarifies the therapeutic properties of honey, and their mechanism of action as an antimicrobial agent, immunological modulator, and physiological mediator in wound healing. This paper also amplifies the main compounds responsible for the wound care capacity. The clinical review, both in vitro and in vivo studies involving in wound are also describes.