Four varieties of honey and one variety of freshly reaped royal jelly (RJ) were used to evaluate their additive action against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29523). In a first step honey and RJ were used separately to determine their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the tested strain. In a second step, lower concentrations of honey than the MIC were added to lower concentrations of RJ than the MIC and then incorporated into media to determine the minimum additive inhibitory concentration. When tested separately, the MIC of the four varieties of honey ranged between 20% and 21% (vol/vol), and that of RJ was 2% (vol/vol). When used jointly, all honey varieties had a more than 50% decrease in MIC with 1% (vol/vol) RJ. A strong linear correlation was noted between the MIC decrease of all varieties of honey and RJ.

The current study investigated the effect of dietary supplementation with probiotics and Yucca schidigera extract on physicochemical parameters, proximate composition, mineral content and fatty acid profile of broiler breast and thigh muscles. In total, 240 one-day old broilers were randomly allocated into two dietary treatments groups: 1) Control (basal diet), 2) experimental (basal diet with two probiotics Pediococcus acidilactici and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yucca schidigera extract). The results showed that the pH value was higher in the experimental group than in the control group (p < 0.05). However, drip, cook and thaw losses were not influenced by dietary treatment (p > 0.05). A significant increase in protein, Fe, Zn, Na, P and a significant decrease in lipid, Cu and Cr contents was exhibited in experimental group relative to control group (p < 0.05). The proportion of stearic acid and saturated fatty acids was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced, whereas linoleic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acids contents were significantly (p < 0.05) increased in breast and thigh muscles of fed the experimental diet. We concluded that additive supplementation of the diet with probiotics and Yucca schidigera extract could improve meat quality.

Six varieties of honey from different regions in Algeria were used to determine their potency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Four varieties originated from northern Algeria, and two from the Sahara. Three types of media were used. On nutrient agar the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the four northern varieties ranged between 30% (vol/vol) and 31% (vol/vol), while the MIC of the Sahara varieties was 11% (vol/vol) and 14% (vol/vol). On King A agar the MIC of the four northern varieties ranged from 25% (vol/vol) to 31% (vol/vol), whereas the MIC of the two varieties of Sahara honey was 12% (vol/vol) and 15% (vol/vol). On nutrient broth the MIC of the northern varieties ranged from 10% (vol/vol) to 21% (vol/vol), whereas the MIC of the two varieties of Sahara honey was 9% (vol/vol). The botanic flora of Sahara is known in Algeria for its medicinal uses, and thus the higher potency of the Sahara honey is most probably due to antibacterial substances in its plant derivates. These findings suggest that Sahara honey could be used for managing wounds and burns, which are mostly infected by P. aeruginosa.

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