Revisiting Greek Propolis: Chromatographic Analysis and Antioxidant Activity Study

Abstract

Propolis is a bee product that has been extensively used in alternative medicine and recently has gained interest on a global scale as an essential ingredient of healthy foods and cosmetics. Propolis is also considered to improve human health and to prevent diseases such as inflammation, heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. However, the claimed effects are anticipated to be correlated to its chemical composition. Since propolis is a natural product, its composition is consequently expected to be variable depending on the local flora alignment. In this work, we present the development of a novel HPLC-PDA-ESI/MS targeted method, used to identify and quantify 59 phenolic compounds in Greek propolis hydroalcoholic extracts. Amongst them, nine phenolic compounds are herein reported for the first time in Greek propolis. Alongside GC-MS complementary analysis was employed, unveiling eight additional newly reported compounds. The antioxidant activity study of the propolis samples verified the potential of these extracts to effectively scavenge radicals, with the extract of Imathia region exhibiting comparable antioxidant activity to that of quercetin.

Effect of Propolis Ethanolic Extract Supplementation to Ram Semen Extenders on Sperm Characteristics, Lipid Peroxidation and some Enzymatic Activities in Seminal Plasma in Chilled Semen

“…Little information was available in relation to the effects of additive propolis extract to semen extender. According to Kasiotis et al (2017), propolis removes the hydrogen peroxide and prevents the generation of hydroxyl radicals by the Diphenyl picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and caffeic acid phenethyl reaction that acts as scavenger of lipid peroxyl radicals. The principal role of propolis to protect viable sperm during preservation is related to a basic biological ability of propolis in extender media.…”

Photometric Analysis of Propolis from the Island of Samothraki, Greece. The Discovery of Red Propolis

“…The highest values were [40] with permission. [16,45,46] In general, the values of the three parameters examined for the propolis of Samothraki, revealed huge variability, not only between areas but also between colonies of the same apiary. There was even variability within the same sample of a propolis trap from a single colony when it was analyzed in triplicates (i. e., Figure 3, samples 1, 2 and 3 or 40, 74 and 78).…”

“…To our knowledge, these TPC values recorded in Samothraki are the highest ever reported in Greece or in Europe. [10,16,45,46] Even higher polyphenolic content has been reported only in samples from Brazil, [47] China, [48] Japan, [49] and Canada, [50] with the first two, referring to red propolis. Low TPC values, ranging from 12.85 to 15.45 GAE/g, were also evaluated in propolis samples from Samothraki at Alonia, Chora and Makrilies.…”

Insight on Propolis from Mediterranean Countries: Chemical Composition, Biological Activities and Application Fields

“…[17,64,[72][73][74][75] Terpenes [mainly totarol (36), isopimaric acid (42), βelemene (43), agathadiol (44), pimaric acid (34), isoagatholal (45) and isocupressic acid (32)] ( Figure 4) were also found with the exception of propolis from Nigrita that had high amounts of flavonoids and low amounts of phenolic acids and their esters, and without diterpenic compounds. [74] In addition, in the recent study of Kasiotis et al [76] it was not reported the presence of diterpenes in samples originating from Crete, Kos, and Amorgos (Greece), in the opposite of the finding of Popova et al, [75] where they have reported a relative high amount of this group of compounds in Crete samples. In propolis samples from Continental Greece (West North of Macedonia (Kastoria) as well as in Dodecanese islands (Rhodes), Lagouri et al [77] did not detect diterpenes.…”