Determination of Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Honey-Loaded Topical Formulations: A Focus on Western Australian Honeys

This study presents data on the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of honey-based topical formulations incorporating four Western Australian (WA) honeys along with New Zealand Manuka honey as a comparator honey. The antioxidant activity of the pure honeys and the various honey-loaded topical formulations were assessed by the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) derivatization. An optimised agar overlay assay was employed to determine the antibacterial activity of the pure honeys and honey-loaded topical formulations with a Trimethoprim antibiotic disc acting as a positive control. It was found that the antioxidant activity was retained in all formulation types irrespective of the honey that was utilized. WA Manuka honey 2 and its formulations showed the highest antioxidant activity in the FRAP assay with a recorded activity of 6.56, 6.54, 6.53 and 18.14 mmol Fe2+ equivalent/kg honey, its pre-gel solution, and its corresponding wet and dry sheets, respectively. Additionally, the band activity of WA Manuka honey 2 and its formulations was also found to be the highest activity with values equivalent to 29.30, 29.28, 29.27 and 81.30 µg of gallic acid/g honey, its pre-gel solution, and also its corresponding wet and dry sheets, respectively. In the overlay assay, the antibacterial activity of honey-loaded formulations was recorded to be comparable to that of their respective pure honeys. The findings of this study suggest that WA honeys and the investigated semi-solid topical formulations that were loaded with these honeys exert antibacterial and antioxidant activities that at times exceeded that of the NZ Manuka honey, which was used as a comparator in this study.