Propolis and its Cosmetic Applications: A Technological Prospection

Abstract

Objective: Due to the growing interest and commercialization of products derived from propolis, the present investigation aimed to carry out a prospective study based on the patenting of these products with cosmetic purpose in intellectual property banks in Brazil and worldwide. Methods: There were searched patents with propolis formulations deposited until 2018 at the intellectual property banks: National Intellectual Property Institute (INPI)-Brazil, United States Patent and Trademark Office-United States, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)-Europe and Espacenet. For the search, all patents that included the term "propolis" and "acne" were considered and only the patents for dermatological products were selected. The relevant informations in the patent documents was extracted and organized into tables and graphs generated in the GraphPad Prism program. Results: WIPO was the bank with the largest number of deposits (43.7%), whereas in the INPI there were found only three deposits (2,9%). The number of patent deposits over the years has been increasing, accentuating from 2014, with expressiveness mainly of China (40.8%), United States (29.1%) and South Korea (20.4%). Regarding the type of product, there were mainly creams and masks, but most of the documents did not have specifications of the product. Conclusion: China is the country that has been depositing patents for dermatological use of propolis, where masks and creams are the most deposited formulations. The number of deposits is still modest, but growth is remarkable and significant.

Prospecção tecnológica do pequizeiro (Caryocar brasiliense camb.)

“…Foi realizado um estudo prospectivo, quantitativo e exploratório a partir de busca de documentos de patentes. Os estudos de prospecção tecnológica a partir de patentes possui suporte metodológico para ser utilizada como uma ferramenta potencial em debates de política global (Vincent, Singh, Chakraborty, & Gopalakrishnan, 2017), possuem metodologia adequada através da busca de documentos para fornecer indicadores importantes da produção e comércio de produtos (Barros, Neto, & Fonteles, 2019;Paranhos, & Ribeiro, 2018;Valadas et al, 2017).…”

Evaluation of the Effects of Propolis and Xylitol Chewable Tablets on the Salivary Concentrations of Oral Micro-organisms in Orthodontic Patients: A Pilot Study

“…In this way, several patents are verified that have been deposited in several intellectual property banks. 14,15 Chewable tablets made with xylitol and other substances such as propolis are an attractive way to make the prevention strategy a reality. Most consumers buy and chew tablets for appreciation of their taste and texture, but also because they are accessible and bring specific benefits for oral health.…”

Comparison of the Biological Potential and Chemical Composition of Brazilian and Mexican Propolis

“…The main market for Brazilian propolis is Asia, 92% of all fresh propolis consumed in Japan is from Brazil. European countries and the United States are also consumers of Brazilian propolis [9,14,[25][26][27].…”

“…According to the verified articles (Tables S1 and S2 of supplementary material) [33], Brazilian and Mexican propolis composition analyses found many shared compounds, even considering different geographic regions, ecosystems, and types (color differences) [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. Many of these chemical compounds stand out for their biological activity, for example, phenolic acids, phenolic acid esters, flavonoids, terpenoids, luteolin, galantine, trans ferulic acid, caffeic acid, chrysin, pinobanksin 5-methyl ether, quercetin, apigenin, kaempferol, naringenin, rutin, catechin, p-coumaric, pinobanksin, pinocembrin, and pinobanksin 3-acetate, and many others [21,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. On the other hand, some compounds that are considered propolis-type markers, such as in propolis from Brazil, are artepillin C (3,5-diphenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid) for green propolis [44][45][46][47] and formononetin (3-hydroxy-8-9-dimethoxypterocarpan) for red propolis [32,[48][49][50].…”