Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 7.1.
Physicochemical parameters for propolis samples from Atlántico and Antioquia Departments.
Insoluble
material (%)
a
Propolis sample
EEP (%)
a
Wax content (%)
a
Humidity (%)
a
Ash content (%)
a
Atlántico
b
8.48-24.21
1.77-6.07
55.57-77.93
5.74-11.69
0.35-3.86
Bajo Cauca
b
6.46-25.84
2.00-33.60
36.53-89.82
1.35-8.18
0.91-2.33
South-west
c
10.44-40.64
45.11-76.42
8.28-28.23
1.82-4.96
0.16-4.77
Brazilian
regulation
Min. 35.0
Max. 25.0
Max. 40.0
Max. 8.0
Max. 5.0
Argentinian
regulation
Min. 30.0
Max. 40.0
Max. 25.0
Max. 10.0
Max. 5.0
a
Minimum and maximum values found;
b
analysis carried out according to Brazilian regulation protocols;
c
analysis carried
out according to Argentinian regulation protocols.
7.3 Propolis: Botanical Origin
and Secondary Metabolites
propolis from tropical regions and temperate
regions. Furthermore, owing to the richness
and variety of tropical flora, the propolis'
chemical composition is highly complex and
variable. In Table 7.2 the chemical character-
istics of propolis from different regions of the
world are presented.
As we previously mentioned, propolis is a
bee product made from different tissues and
plant exudates. The chemical composition of
this material is strongly influenced by their
geographical origin and the botanical sources
used to produce it, which can vary according
to range of temperature and latitude. In tem-
perate zone countries of the Northern hemi-
sphere, propolis samples have a relatively
constant qualitative composition because
bees mainly use for their elaboration buds
from poplars (
Populus nigra
, Salicaceae and
Populus nigra,
Pyramidalis) (Ghisalberti,
1979; Greenaway
et al
., 1990) and only a few
plant sources such as birch and elm.
Similarly, in eastern Australia bees employ
endemic species of the genus
Xanthorrhoea
(Bankova
et al
., 2000).
In tropical regions, where there is no
poplar existence, bees can find alternative
sources for resin production (Bankova
et al
.,
2000). In countries from Central and South
America honeybees employ plant resins
from
Clusia
species to produce red propolis.
Resins from
Clusia minor
and
Clusia rosea
are employed by Venezuelan and Cuban
bees, respectively. In Brazil botanical sources
of resin that originates green propolis are
Araucaria heterophylla, Clusia major, Clusia
minor, Araucaria angustifolia, Eucalyptus
citriodora
and especially
Baccharis
species
(Greenaway
et al
., 1990). Now it is clear,
and widely proved, the appreciable differ-
ences in chemical composition between
7.3.1
Chemical profile of propolis
from South America
For the complete characterization of propo-
lis, different techniques such as thin layer
chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography
(GC), high performance liquid chromatogra-
phy (HPLC) and
1
H and
13
C nuclear mag-
netic resonance (NMR) have been used. In
routine analysis, ultraviolet absorption (UV)
with a diode array detector (DAD) is com-
monly employed, but the use of hyphenated
techniques, mainly gas chromatography-
mass spectrometry (GC-MS), is growing.
As an example, in the analysis of propo-
lis samples Ahn
et al.
(2007) using HPLC-
DAD and MS identified caffeic acid (
1
),
p
-coumaric acid (
2
), ferulic acid (
3
),
3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acid (
4
), pinobanksin
5-methyl ether (
5
), pinobanksin (
6
), pinocem-
brin (
7
), pinobanksin 3-acetate (
8
), caffeic acid
phenetyl ester (
9
), cinammyldeneacetic acid
(
10
), cinnamyl caffeate (
11
), chrysin (
12
),
galangin (
13
) and tectochrysin (
14
) (Fig. 7.1).
Some of these compounds have also been
found in propolis from Europe (Banskota
et al.,
2002; Uzel
et al.,
2005), Argentina and
Uruguay (Kumazawa
et al
., 2002).
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