Chemodiversity of propolis samples collected in various areas of Benin and Congo: Chromatographic profiling and chemical characterization guided by ¹³C NMR dereplication

Abstract

Introduction: Propolis is a resinous natural substance collected by honeybees from buds and exudates of various trees and plants; it is widely accepted that the composition of propolis depends on the phytogeographic characteristics of the site of collection. Objectives:The aim of this study was to determine the phytochemical composition of ethanolic extracts from eight propolis batches collected in different regions of Benin (north, center, and south) and Congo, Africa.Material and methods: Characterization of propolis samples was performed by using different hyphenated chromatographic methods combined with carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance ( 13 C NMR) dereplication with MixONat software. Their antioxidant or anti-advanced glycation end-product (anti-AGE) activity was then evaluated by using diphenylpicrylhydrazyl and bovine serum albumin assays, respectively.Results: Chromatographic analyses combined with 13 C NMR dereplication showed that two samples from the center of Benin exhibited, in addition to a huge amount of pentacyclic triterpenes, methoxylated stilbenoids or phenanthrenoids, responsible for the antioxidant activity of the extract for the first one. Among them, combretastatins might be cytotoxic. For the second one, the prenylated flavanones known in Macaranga-type propolis were responsible for its significant anti-AGE activity. The sample from Congo was composed of many triterpene derivatives belonging to Mangifera indica species.Conclusion: Therefore, propolis from the center of Benin seems to be of particular interest, due to its antioxidant and anti-AGE properties. Nevertheless, as standardization of propolis is difficult in tropical zones due to its great chemodiversity, a systematic phytochemical analysis is required before promoting the use of propolis in food and health products in Africa.

The application and perspective of NMR and MS based strategies for functional compounds mining in medicinal and dietary plants

“…In addition, as a complementary approach to MS within a chemometric model, MixONat was successfully used for confirming the structures of high anti-advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) activity markers directly from crude bark extracts of Garcinia parvifolia prior to their isolation [50] . Other relevant literature has also reported the use of MixONat for elucidating the composition of propolis samples [51][52] , xanthones from Calophyllum brasiliense [53] , and polyphenolic FCs from Clusia flava Jacq. [54] .…”