ANTIBIOTIC RESIDUES IN IRANIAN HONEY BY ELISA

The aim of this study was to determine antibiotic residues in honey collected from northern part of Iran. The presence of antibiotic residues in honey may be harmful to human health. In this study, the enzyme linked immune assay method was used to investigate of antibiotic residues in honey samples (n = 135) collected randomly from Qazvin Province, Iran. The analyzed antibiotics included enrofloxacin, penicilin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, tylosin, tetracycline, and sulfonamide. Result show that the range of antibiotic radiuses value was 0.0-72.1 ng/g, besides; the highest percentage of antibiotic residues in honey samples was the enrofloxacin (20.7%). The highest and lowest mean contamination (ng/g) belonged to enrofloxacin (10.8 +/- 1.6) followed by Penicillin (4.4 +/- 2.9), and chloramphenicol (0.1 +/- 0.1). The highest level of antibiotic residues (71.85%) was seen in honey samples collected during the autumn season (P < 0.05).