The antibacterial and antifungal activities of mad honey and the crude extracts (leaves and flowers) of Rhododendron ponticum L. subsp. ponticum, Rhododendron luteum L., Rhododendron smirnovii L., and Rhododendron caucasicum L. (Ericaceae) were investigated. | Turk J Biol 33 (2009) 151-158 © TÜBİTAK doi: The Antibacterial and Antifungal Effects of Rhododendron Derived Mad Honey and Extracts of Four Rhododendron Species Ömer ERTÜRK1, Fatma PEHLİVAN KARAKAŞ2, Derya PEHLİVAN1, Nurşah NAS1 1 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Ordu University, 52750, Perşembe, Ordu - TURKEY Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Abant İzzet Baysal University, 14280, Bolu - TURKEY Received: Abstract: The antibacterial and antifungal activities of mad honey and the crude extracts (leaves and flowers) of Rhododendron ponticum L. subsp. ponticum, Rhododendron luteum L., Rhododendron smirnovii L., and Rhododendron caucasicum L. (Ericaceae) were investigated. A total of 17 microbial organisms belonging to 16 species of bacteria, namely Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus salivarius, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Streptococcus mutans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus licheniformis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris, and Candida albicans were studied using a disk-diffusion and agar dilution (minimal inhibition concentration) method. The antimicrobial activity of the antibacterial and antifungal activity of the mad honey and the crude extracts obtained from the 4 Rhododendron spp. turned out to be more effective in the case of bacteria than against fungus. The antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria was more pronounced than against gram-negative ones. Each of the crude extracts of the Rhododendron spp. and mad honey exhibited more or less pronounced antibacterial and antifungal potencies in the case of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and fungus. In particular, the crude samples of Rhododendron caucasicum flowers (RCF), Rhododendron ponticum leaves (RPL) and Rhododendron ponticum flowers (RPF), and Rhododendron smirnovii leaves (RSL) .
