Honey is a highly valued natural product with antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. However, its antioxidant activity (AOA) is not as high as that of other honeybee products, such as propolis. Several polyphenol—honey formulations have been proposed up to now, most of them using maceration of biomass in honey or mixtures with liquid extracts, which either limit polyphenols bioavailability or destroy the characteristics of honey. To improve the health benefits of honey by increasing AOA and keeping its structural and sensory properties, we propose its enrichment in a polyphenol extract of raspberry after solvent evaporation. A honey-biomimetic natural deep eutectic solvent (NaDES) was prepared and compared with honey. The main polyphenols found in the raspberry extract were tested in combination with honey and NaDES, respectively. The AOA was determined by DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC, and FRAP methods. The AOA behaviour of honey—polyphenol mixtures varied from synergism to antagonism, being influenced by the AOA method, polyphenol type, and/or mixture concentration. The honey-biomimetic NaDES resulted in similar AOA behaviour as with honey mixed with polyphenols. Honey seems to have additional properties that increase synergism or reduce antagonism in some cases. Honey and its biomimetic NaDES modulate AOA of polyphenols extract.

In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were decorated with different types of nanoparticles (NPs) in order to obtain hybrid materials with improved antimicrobial activity. Structural and morphological analysis, such as Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller technique were used in order to investigate the decoration of the nanotubes with NPs. Analysis of the decorated nanotubes showed a narrow size distribution of NPs, 7–13 nm for the nanotubes decorated with zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs, 15–33 nm for the nanotubes decorated with silver (Ag) NPs and 20–35 nm for the nanotubes decorated with hydroxyapatite (HAp) NPs, respectively. The dispersion in water of the obtained nanomaterials was improved for all the decorated MWCNTs, as revealed by the relative absorbance variation in time of the water-dispersed nanomaterials. The obtained nanomaterials showed a good antimicrobial activity; however, the presence of the NPs on the surface of MWCNTs improved the nanocomposites’ activity. The presence of ZnO and Ag nanoparticles enhanced the antimicrobial properties of the material, in clinically relevant microbial strains. Our data proves that such composite nanomaterials are efficient antimicrobial agents, suitable for the therapy of severe infection and biofilms.

Raw materials, such as collagen and chitosan, obtained from by-products from the food industry (beef hides and crustacean exoskeletons), can be used to obtain collagen–chitosan composite biomaterials, with potential applications in regenerative medicine. Functionalization of these composite biomaterials is a possibility, thus, resulting in a molecule with potential applications in regenerative medicine, namely clotrimazole (a molecule with antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor activity), at a mass ratio (collagen–chitosan–clotrimazole) of 1:1:0.1. This functionalized composite biomaterial has great potential for application in regenerative medicine, due to the following properties: (1) it is porous, and the pores formed are interconnected, due to the use of a mass ratio between collagen and chitosan of 1:1; (2) the size of the formed pores is between 500–50 μm; (3) between collagen and chitosan, hydrogen bonds are formed, which ensure the unity of composite biomaterial; (4) the functionalized bio-composite exhibits in vitro antimicrobial activity for Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus aureus MRSA; for the latter microorganism, the antimicrobial activity is equivalent to that of the antibiotic Minocycline; (5) the proliferation tests performed on a standardized line of normal human cells with simple or composite materials obtained by lyophilization do not show cytotoxicity in the concentration range studied (10–500) μg/mL.