Potential effects of Saudi Shaoka (Fagonia bruguieri) honey against multi-drug-resistant bacteria and cancer cells in comparison to Manuka honey

The global spread of antimicrobial-resistant infectious diseases and cancer are the most widespread public health issue and has led to high mortality rates. This study aims to evaluate and verify the antibacterial and antitumor activities of Shaoka and Manuka honey against pathogenic bacteria, human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines. Shaoka hone was analyzed using HPLC, UV–vis, and GC/MC, while antibacterial activity was measured by agar diffusion, broth microdilution methods, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Antitumor activity was investigated morphologically and by MTT assay. According to the presented data of HPLC analysis, Shaoka honey was generally richer in polyphenolic components, the antibacterial activity showed that Shaoka honey is equivalent or relatively more active than Manuka honey against a broad spectrum of multi-drug-resistant bacteria. It inhibited the growth of ESBL Escherichia coli in the absence or presence of catalase enzyme with a concentration approximately 8.5%–7.3% equivalent to phenol, which supported the highest level of non-peroxide-dependent activity. The minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) ranged between 5.0% and 15.0% honey (w/v). TEM observation revealed distorted cell morphology, cytoplasmic shrinkage, and cell wall destruction of treated bacteria. The selected honey exerted cytotoxicity on both cancer cell lines, inhibiting cell proliferation rate and viability percent in HepG2 and MCF-7 cancer cells, by different degrees depending on the honey quality, Shaoka honey competed Manuka inhibitory effects against both cancer cells. The obtained data confirmed the potential for use of Saudi Shaoka honey as a remedy, this well introduces a new honey template as medical-grade honey for treating infectious disease and cancer.