Honey-associated microorganisms and antimicrobial activity: Probiotic, synbiotic, and postbiotic properties

Honey harbors a diverse microbial ecosystem, including Lactobacillaceae, Bacillaceae, and fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB), as well as selected yeasts, which collectively contribute to gut health, immune modulation, and antimicrobial activity. These honey-associated microorganisms exhibit probiotic-like traits such as acid and bile tolerance, pathogen inhibition, and adhesion-related properties, suggesting potential functional relevance, although most evidence currently derives from in vitro and preclinical studies. Unlike previous reports, this review integrates both probiotic and postbiotic mechanisms of honey-associated microorganisms with the effects of processing and storage on microbial viability and functional compounds, providing a mechanistic perspective on their biological actions. Raw honey maintains superior microbial diversity and antibacterial properties, largely driven by organic acids, bacteriocins, antimicrobial peptides, and exopolysaccharides produced by resident microorganisms; however, these properties can be partially lost during thermal processing due to reduced microbial viability and enzyme activity. In this context, emerging alternative technologies, such as ultrasound, microwave, and high-pressure treatments, offer promising strategies to ensure microbial safety while preserving honey's bioactive integrity, including probiotic and postbiotic functionality, as well as synbiotic potential. Additionally, honey-derived microorganisms produce enzymes, prebiotics, and secondary metabolites that contribute to its functional potential. The magnitude and profile of these effects vary according to geographic origin, botanical source and bee-related factors. By combining insights on microbial diversity, functional metabolites, and emerging preservation strategies, this review provides a unique and integrative perspective on harnessing honey's probiotic, synbiotic and postbiotic potential, while highlighting current knowledge gaps, future research needs, and opportunities for the development of honey-based functional foods and biotechnological applications. Future research should prioritize strain-level safety assessment, standardization of isolation and identification methods, validation of health effects through well-designed clinical studies, and the optimization of processing strategies to enable the industrial application of honey-derived probiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics.