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Decrease of halitosis by intake of manuka honey
Hirokazu Shiga 1), Ayako Jo 1), Keiji Terao 1), Masato Nakano 2),
Tomoko Ohshima 3) and Nobuko Maeda 3)
1) CycloChem Co., Ltd., 2) Nakano Medical Clinic
3) Department of Oral Bacteriology, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University
Objectives : Increasing number of people is worrying about their oral halitosis. The
major source of halitosis is volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), which are generated
through the decomposition of protein contained in food residue in mouth by oral
bacteria such as
Porphyromonas gingivalis
or
Fusobacterium nucleatum
. Manuka
honey, derived from the Manuka tree (
Leptospermum scoparium
) in New Zealand, is
well-known for a pronounced antibacterial activity which can not be found by any other
honey. Manuka honey contains a typical antibacterial substance “methylglyoxal (MGO)”,
and shows the strong antibacterial activity against oral bacteria, by which it can be a
promising functional food for the oral care. Here, we report on the decrease of halitosis
by intake of manuka honey.
Methods : Ten healthy subjects (average age : 36 years old, 5 men and 5 women) were
selected, and their halitosis was measured before and after intake of manuka honey or
acacia honey. The concentration of VSCs was measured by an oral chroma (Halimeter
RH-17K, Taiyo), and the concentration of anaerobic bacteria in mouth was evaluated by
urease activity (Atein mBA-400, Taiyo). The amount of MGO in honey was measured
using RP-HPLC with UV detection as the corresponding quinoxaline after pre-column
derivatization with
o
-phenylendiamine (Mavric
et al
. 2008).
Results : The concentrations of VSCs and anaerobic bacteria in mouth decreased after
intake of both honey, but the decreasing effect of manuka honey was markedly stronger
than that of acacia honey. Manuka honey showed 127 times higher amount of MGO
than acacia honey by RP-HPLC analysis.
Conclusions : Since there is the strong relationship between MGO level in honey and
the antibacterial activity, the results indicate that the decreasing effect of halitosis by
manuka honey would originate from the strong antibacterial activity of MGO.