Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Composition of Colombian Propolis
Jesús H. Gil-González,
1
Diego L. Durango-Restrepo,
1
Benjamín A. Rojano
1
and Juan C. Marín-Loaiza
2
*
1
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín,
Antioquia, Colombia;
2
Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
7.1
Introduction
propolis as an anti-pyretic agent; in addition,
the London pharmacopoeias of the 17th
century listed propolis as an official drug
(Sforcin and Bankova, 2011). Today, numer-
ous studies have proven its versatile pharma-
cological activities, and it is traditionally
employed in natural medicine, apitherapy,
biocosmetics and nutraceuticals with many
purposes (Bankova
et al
., 2000). Most of the
studies carried out have proved that this
material has many properties such as anti-
bacterial (Marcucci
et al
., 2001), antifungal
(Yang
et al.,
2011), antiviral (Kujumgiev
et al
.,
1999), anti-inflammatory (Hu
et al
., 2005),
anti-ulcer (Primon de Barros
et al.,
2008),
hepatoprotective (Shimizu
et al.,
2004) and
anti-tumoural (El-khawaga
et al.,
2003),
among many others. There is also much evi-
dence of the antioxidant property of propo-
lis, which is mainly attributed to phenolic
compounds, especially flavonoids (Russo
et al.
, 2004; Gregoris and Stevanato, 2010;
Cottica
et al.,
2011).
Although the biological activity of bee
glue, and especially its activity against
microorganisms, is always present in sam-
ples from different geographic and climatic
Propolis, also known as bee glue, is a
resin-like product collected and elaborated
by bees (
Apis mellifera
) from parts of plants,
buds and exudates; it is transformed and
used by bees to seal holes in their honey-
combs, smooth out the internal walls and
protect the entrance against intruders. The
word propolis is derived from the Greek
pro-, for or in defence, and polis-, city, i.e.
defence of the city (or the hive) (Ghisalberti,
1979). In recent years there has been a
renewed interest in the composition of
propolis, a substance that can be regarded
as a potential natural source in folk medi-
cine and in the chemical industry, particu-
larly because the chemical diversity of
propolis makes it a valuable source of new
biologically active compounds.
Propolis has been employed exten-
sively since ancient times; for example,
Egyptians benefited from the anti-putrefactive
properties of propolis in order to embalm
their dead. Also, it was used as an antiseptic
and cicatrizant agent by the Greek and
Roman physicians, and Incas employed
* E-mail: jcmarinlo@unal.edu.co
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