Characterisation of Argentinean honeys and evaluation of its inhibitory action on Escherichia coli growth

Summary The aim of this work was to evaluate the physicochemical, sensory and Escherichia coli growth inhibitory characteristics of honey of different botanical sources from two geographic origin of Argentina. Honeys were obtained from apiaries located in two zones. The floral identification of honeys allowed to clustered them as monofloral, mixed and polyfloral honeys. The study of the physicochemical parameters such as colour, free acidity, pH and moisture showed that the last one reflected significant differences between honeys. These differences were markedly reflected in the average values of moisture content for each zone, being 18.96% and 14.29% to centre and east zone, respectively. In general, honeys evaluated presented an inhibitory effect on the E. coli growth at different periods of time (bacteriostatic action). Only, two of the samples would show a bactericide action against E. coli at 48 h of incubation. Honeys with higher non-hydrogen peroxide activity, were collected from a same geographic place at the same season of year, showing a relationship between the antimicrobial activity and the geographic origin, which could be associated with the typical flora of the place.