Raw honey has been used to treat infections for centuries, and today we are very aware of the extent of its antimicrobial properties, though we still don't know what it is exactly that makes honey so effective (the best idea right now is honey's osmolarity and hydrogen peroxide content). Six years ago,
a group of researchers in Sweden discovered a large, unexplored bacterial microbiota in the
honey stomach of honeybees, which was made up of 40 lactic acid bacterial strains, 9 strains of
Lactobacillus, and 4 strains of
Bifidobacterium. The researchers hypothesized that this microbiota, specifically the lactic acid bacteria (LAB), were responsible for the antimicrobial properties of honey. The
group report (in an
open access study published this week) having finally found the answer.
