The Effect of Honey Supplementation on Plasma Levels of Short Chain Fatty Acids in Healthy Infants

Abstract Background: Honey is a sweet and flavorful natural product, which is consumed for its high nutritive value and for its positive effects on human health, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, woundhealing, antitumor, immunomodulator, prebiotic and probiotic properties. Honey is produced by honey bees from plant nectars, plant secretions and excretions of plant-sucking insects. Concerning its nutrient profile, it represents an interesting source of natural macro-and micro-nutrients, consisting of a saturated solution of fructose, glucose, and to Fructo-Oligosaccharides (FOS) that can serve as prebiotics, but also of a wide range of minor constituents, especially phenolic compounds. Aim of Study: Evaluation of the effect of honey supple-mentation on plasma levels of short chain fatty acids in healthy infants and on the anthropometric measurements. Subjects and Methods: This study was a single arm pro-spective interventional study. Twenty healthy infants aged 1 to 2 years were consecutively recruited from the Outpatient Pediatric Clinic of Ain Shams University, Egypt during the period from January, 2020 to February, 2020. Each infant received 2g honey/kg/day for 8 weeks. The plasma level of SCFAS and the anthropometric measurements were compared before and after honey intervention. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in plasma level of SCFAS (formic, acetic and butyric) after honey intervention in the studied group (p-value <0.05). There was also a statistically significant increase in the body weight (p-value 0,001) and OFC (p-value 0,03 1). Honey consumption did not produce any adverse effect in the studied group for 8 weeks. Conclusion: 8 weeks of honey consumption resulted in increased plasma SCFAS level (formic, acetic and butyric) and increase in the body weight and OFC.