Antioxidant Activity of a Geopropolis from Northeast Brazil: Chemical Characterization and Likely Botanical Origin

Abstract

Geopropolis is a product containing wax, plant resin, and soil particles. It is elaborated by stingless bees of tribe Meliponini. Methanol extracts of sample of geopropolis produced by Scaptotrigona postica (“mandaguari”) in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN, northeast Brazil) were analyzed for the determination of standard parameters (total phenols, total flavonoids, and radical scavenging activity) and chemical characterization by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS analysis. The sample analyzed has high contents of total phenols and flavonoids, as well as high antioxidant activity. The constituents characterized were mainly flavonols, such as quercetin methyl ethers, and methoxychalcones. Such chemical profile is similar to the composition of a green propolis from the same area of RN, which is produced by Africanized Apis mellifera, using shoot apices of Mimosa tenuiflora, popularly known as “jurema-preta.” This finding provides evidence that “mandaguari” geopropolis and honeybee propolis have the same botanical origin in RN. The sharing of a plant resin source by phylogenetically distant bees (Apinae and Meliponinae) suggests that bee genetic factors play little role in the choice of plants for resin collection and that the availability of potential botanical sources plays a decisive role.

Antiviral Activity of Geopropolis Extract from Scaptotrigona Aff. Postica against Rubella Virus

“…Propolis and geopropolis possess the same chemical class of compounds, which are extracted from its respective resin source. Flavonoids, terpenes, phenylpropanoids, triterpenoids, catechins and caffeoylquinic acid derivatives were detected in geopropolis (Silva et al, 2014;Dutra et al, 2014;Batista et al, 2016;Sawaya et al 2009;Ferreira et al, 2017). A pyrrolizidine alkaloid derived from retronecine was detected in geopropolis from stingless bee S. postica (Coelho et al, 2015).…”

“…Flavonols, such as quercetin methyl ethers, and methoxy chalcones were detected in geopropolis from Scaptotrigona aff. depillis, harvested in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast region of Brazil (Ferreira et al, 2017).…”

Cardanols detected in non-polar propolis extracts from Scaptotrigona aff. postica (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini)

“…Flavonol methyl ethers and methoxychalcones were detected in the geopropolis from Scaptotrigona aff. depillis harvested in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, for which the resin source was Mimosa tenuiflora (Ferreira et al, 2017). Regional and seasonal differences were observed in the chemical compositions of geopropolis samples from Scaptotrigona spp., Scaptotrigona depillis and Scaptotrigona bipunctata, harvested monthly from two distinct Brazilian states, Maranhão and São Paulo.…”

“…Qualitative and quantitative differences in the chemical composition of propolis can influence its biological activity (Santos et al, 2017b;Franchin et al, 2012). However, the propolis produced by different species of stingless bees in different regions of the world, exhibit antimicrobial (Cunha et al, 2013a), anticancer, antioxidant (Ferreira et al, 2017), anti-inflammatory (Araújo et al, 2015;Santos et al, 2017aSantos et al, , 2017bSantos et al, , 2017c, gastroprotective (Ribeiro-Junior et al, 2015), and antiviral (Coelho et al, 2015) activities. The geopropolis produced by Melipona fasciculata Smith exhibited antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans (Liberio et al, 2011).…”

Corrigendum to “Antioxidant Activity of a Geopropolis from Northeast Brazil: Chemical Characterization and Likely Botanical Origin”

“…In the article titled “Antioxidant Activity of a Geopropolis from Northeast Brazil: Chemical Characterization and Likely Botanical Origin” [ 1 ], the scientific name of the stingless bee was given as Scaptotrigona postica . However, it must be corrected to Scaptotrigona aff.…”