Honey as a natural preservative of milk

Abstract

The anti-bacterial property and preservative nature of honey has been studied by evaluating the role of hydrogen peroxide in these properties, against bacterial strains isolated and identified from pasteurized milk samples. The anti-bacterial property of honey examined by agar incorporation assay and turbidometry, indicated a concentration dependent inhibition of bacterial growth in all catalase negative strains in comparison with catalase positive strains, highlighting a probable role of hydrogen peroxide. Samples of commercial milk stored at 4°C in presence of honey were shown to inhibit opportunistic bacterial growth better compared to samples stored without honey. Due to the bactericidal property of hydrogen peroxide and its preservative nature, honey which is chiefly a combination of various sugars and hydrogen peroxide, can be used a preservative of milk samples.