ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF Heterotrigona itama HONEY FARMED IN EX-MINING AREA

Abstract

Honey is considered to be a valuable non-timber forest product due to its numerous preventative and therapeutic properties. The nutritional content in honey is the most complete so it can boost the immune system. This study aims to determine the potential inhibition of Heterotrigona itama stingless bee honey against the activity of Staphylococcus sp bacteria and Propionibacterium sp bacteria. This research adopted the agar diffusion method to conduct antibacterial testing. The nutrient agar media was aseptically put into a sterile petri dish and thereafter left to air-dry. Following this, the bacterial suspension was reconstituted and subsequently inoculated onto the solidified agar surface by creating perforations. The experiment involved conducting antibacterial tests using many concentrations of the samples. The experimental setup included a positive control using chloramphenicol and a negative control using distilled water. The test results showed that the activity of the inhibition of Heterotrigona itama kelulut honey against Staphylococcus sp bacteria and Propionibacterium sp bacteria belonged to the strong antibacterial category. The antibacterial activity of honey exhibits an enhanced potency against both types of bacteria in direct proportion to the content of the honey sample.