Propolis from Romania and Turkey: Comparative Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity
Abstract
Propolis is an important
bee product, used by the bees to seal the cracks and to hygiene the wax combs
after brood rearing (Huang et al., 2014). The bioactive compounds of propolis
originate from plant resins that bees collect, mix with own secretions and wax.
Propolis chemical composition is different according to the geographical
location (Mărghitaş et al., 2013), botanical origin and bee specie (Silici and
Kutluca, 2005). The aim of the study was to determine the chemical composition
of different propolis samples from Romania and Turkey and to correlate the
composition with the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of tinctures
against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Soxhlet extraction,
gravimetric measurements, spectrophotometric and chromatographic determinations
were used in the study. The antimicrobial properties were evaluated in vitro towards both reference and
clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus,
Salmonella enteritis, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using the disc
diffusion assay; the minimum inhibitory (MIC) and minimum bactericidal (MBC)
concentrations were established by a broth microdilution method and used to
calculate the bactericidal index for each extract. The wax content of the samples ranged within
the limits provided by the Argentinian and European standards in effect. Balsam
content of the samples was above 30%, providing a tincture with high
antioxidant properties. High amounts of total polyphenols and flavonoids were
determined in all samples, though different for Romanian and Turkish samples.
The inhibitory ability was different for samples coming from different
geographical origins, depending fundamentally on plant source resins, but also
on bacterial species.
Keywords
References
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- 2 Huang MI, Zhang C-P, Wang K, Li GQ, Hu FL (2014) Recent advances in the chemical composition of propolis. Molecules 19: 19610-19632.
- 3 Silici S, Kutluca S (2005) Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of propolis collected by three different races of honeybees in the same region. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 99: 69-73.