Moussa Ahmed, Baghdad Khiati, Saad Aissat Noureddine Djebli, Abdelmalek Meslem and Salima Bacha
Honey samples produced by Apismellifera, both unifloral and multifloral from different sources in Algeria were examined for their antibacterial capacity and their synergism with potato starch. An agar incorporation technique was used to assess the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and the minimum inhibition additive concentration (MIAC) of honey against K. pneumoniae ATCC 27736. The physicochemical properties, α-amylases activity, total phenolic and flavonoid content, of six representative honey samples were determined. The MIC for the six varieties of honey without potato starch against K. pneumoniae ranged between 14% and 24% (v ⁄ v). When starch was incubated with honey and then added to media, an MIC drop was noticed with each variety and it ranged between 5.55 % and 16.66%.The total phenolic content of honey samples was between 1.50–108.21 mg GAE/100 g honey as gallic acid equivalent, total flavonoid content varied from 5.41 to 9.94 mg Catechin/kg . Mean value for diastase was 16.55 ± 2.8 (range 7.3–23.5) expressed as diastase number in Gothe’sscale. No significant correlation was established between α-amylases activity and bioactive compounds. Honey: potato starch combinations show real potential for future use as a treatment for infections caused by K. pneumonia.