Microorganisms in Honey

Abstract

Honey is a product with low water activity because of the great amount of sugars (fructose and glucose), and also it has antimicrobial compounds derived from flowers or because of its transformation process in the beehive. Despite all the honey microorganism barriers, some species of microorganisms are able to survive and may cause damage to honeybees or consumers. Techniques of pathogenic microorganism identification by DNA using PCR are recommended and required for sanitary and customs control. It is important to know the diversity of contaminating microorganisms in honey, especially due to disseminate pathogenic microorganisms in the international traded marketing. In contrast, beneficial microorganisms such as yeasts can remain latently in this product waiting for the moment in which the environment is suitable for their development. Among the beneficial bacteria found in honeybee products, we can mention some lactic acid bacteria that act as prebiotics when ingested. The microorganisms in the digestive tract of honeybees are important for their health. Thus, we present the knowledge of microbiota associated with honey from honeybees and stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae) and the techniques available for the detection of microorganisms in honey.

Stingless Bee Honey: Evaluating Its Antibacterial Activity and Bacterial Diversity

“…The honey bacterial community of our samples is mainly composed of the Firmicutes phylum, or more specifically, Lactobacillus bacteria. Lactobacillus bacteria generally have the ability to produce bacteriocins, which acts as an antimicrobial compound to numerous pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Candida albicans [13]. Previous studies has also found the presence of Lactobacillus bacteria inside the honey stomach of Apis mellifera [33].…”

“…Moreover, bacterial cultures provides a cheaper and higher production of probiotic compared to the stingless bees harvesting technique. However, it is important for researchers to differentiate between primarily acquired honey bacterial community such as bacteria from digestive tract of honeybees, nectar, pollen, propolis and flowers with secondarily acquired contamination from postharvest processing or appliances [13]. This is due to the pathogenicity potential of bacteria acquired from secondary sources unlike bacteria from primary sources which are more naturally obtained.…”

“…The example of pathogenic bacteria acquired from secondary sources is Clostridium botulinum which is attained from contaminated water sources and ground. This pathogen is responsible for botulism disease among small children [13].…”

Insights Into the Cultivable Microbial Ecology of “Manna” Ash Products Extracted From Fraxinus angustifolia (Oleaceae) Trees in Sicily, Italy

“…According to the other high content sugary foods (Snowdon and Cliver, 1996; Feás et al, 2010; Sinacori et al, 2014), the microbial loads, although variable, are generally < 10 3 cfu/g. This is due to their high content of sugar, which creates stressful conditions for the growth and survival of non-osmo-tolerant microorganisms (Iurlina and Fritz, 2005).…”

Two novel strains of Torulaspora delbrueckii isolated from the honey bee microbiome and their use in honey fermentation

“…In the case of mead, it is often relatively simple to utilize locally produced honey, but few meaderies use indigenous microbes unless they rely on those naturally found in the honey itself. Such microbes are naturally resistant to high osmotic stress from concentrated sugar in honey and typically come from pollen/flower, bee gut microbiome, and dirt/dust contamination of the honey (reviewed in [12, 13]). These organisms include multiple species from dozens of different genera of bacteria (e.g., Bacillus, Citrobacter , and LactoBacillus ), yeast (e.g., Saccharomyces, SchizoSaccharomyces , and Pichia ), and molds.…”