In Costa Rica MARIOLA HONEY is traditionally used for the treatment of wounds, burns and blows. The studies carried out at the National University of Costa Rica (UNA) on the safety of MARIOLA HONEY, which is the antimicrobial activity against microorganism cultures of clinical importance, presented microbial counts that meet the microbiological quality criteria of non-sterile substances for use. pharmacist of the European Pharmacopoeia.

After years of research, Gabriel Zamora, a researcher at Cinat-UNA and scientists from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, discovered in Mariola honey, proteins capable of destroying colonies of bacteria that common antibiotics cannot combat. Zamora, coordinator of the Microbiology and Medicinal Chemistry Program of the Center for Tropical Beekeeping Research of the National University (Cinat-UNA), indicated that "we are beginning to see that the bacteria no longer eat the antibiotic, but instead develop a protective strategy, for this they are organized in a biofilm”.

According Dr. Luis Gabriel Zamora, biofilm is the way in which bacteria and other microorganisms live on our planet, "small communities" where they communicate, feed, reproduce and die. “They create a fortress at different levels, some adhere to the biofilm, others are suspended within the biofilm, and some others migrate to create new biofilms. The antibiotic works if the bacteria behave in the same way, but in these communities each one is different and that is when the medicine loses its effectiveness”, he added.