Antioxidant Activity and Chemical Composition of Colombian Propolis - Natural Antioxidants and Biocides from Wild Medicinal Plants - page 95

Table 7.2. Chemical composition of propolis according to their geographic origin.

Geographic origin Major constituents References

North America, Europe,
New Zealand, non-tropic
regions of Asia

Poplar propolis: flavones, flavanones,
cinnamic acids and their esters

Nagy et al . (1986), Greenaway
et al . (1988), Markham et al .
(1996), Bankova et al . (2000)

Russia Birch propolis: flavones and flavonols

(not the same as in poplar type)

Popravko (1978)

Mediterranean countries:
Sicily, Greece,
Crete, Malta

Mediterranean propolis: diterpenes
mainly labdane-type acids

Trusheva et al . (2003), Melliou and
Chinou (2004), Popova et al .
(2010)

Okinawa, Taiwan,
Indonesia

Pacific propolis: C-prenyl-flavanones Chen et al . (2008), Kumazawa

et al . (2008), Trusheva et al .
(2011)

Brazil Green propolis: prenylated p-coumaric

acids, diterpenic acids
Other propolis: acetophenone, lignans,
triterpenoids and anacardic acid
derivatives

Bankova et al . (2000), Salatino
et al . (2005), Albuquerque et al .
(2007), Silva et al . (2008)

Cuba, Brazil and Mexico Red propolis: isoflavonoids (isoflavans,

pterocarpans)

Daugsch et al . (2008), Lotti et al.
(2010)

Cuba, Venezuela Polyprenylated benzophenones Cuesta-Rubio et al . (2002),

Trusheva et al . (2004), Márquez
et al . (2005)

Cuba Yellow propolis: triterpenoids

(lanosterol, a - and b -amyrin,
lupeol, cicloartenol) and flavonoids

Márquez et al . (2010)

Chile Lignans Valcic et al. (1998)

Peru Triterpenoids (lupeol acetate and

b -amyrin acetate)

Bracho et al . (2009)

Argentina Polyphenols (quercetin, kaempferol,

pinocembrin, chlorogenic acid,
chalcone), lignans and epoxylignan

Chaillou and Nazareno (2009),
Agüero et al . (2010, 2011)

Uruguay Flavonoids (pinobanksin 3-(2-methyl)

butyrate), carboxylic acids, and
phenolic acid esters(2-methyl-2-butenyl
ferulate)

Kumazawa et al . (2002)

Led by Brazil, in the tropical regions
of South America, propolis production
has rapidly increased. In countries with a
great biodiversity, however, such as
Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia, chem-
ical and biological studies on propolis
are scarce. Propolis types from tropical
zones are mainly composed of pre-
nylated p-coumaric acids, acetophe-
nones, lignans, diterpenes and triterpenes
(Bankova, 2000).
From Brazilian propolis, Banskota et al.
(1998) isolated and characterized prenylated
compounds (3-hydroxy-2,2-dimethyl-8-pre-
nylchromane-6-propenoic acid ( 15 )), labdane
type diterpenes (agathic acid ( 16 ), agathalic

acid ( 17 ), cupressic acid ( 18 )), benzofurans
(tremetone ( 19 )) and flavonoids (betuletol
( 20 )), among others (Fig. 7.2).
Furthermore, Banskota et al. (2000)
identified from Brazilian propolis two
benzofurans, named benzofuran A ( 21 ) and
B ( 22 ) (Fig. 7.3), which showed moderate
cytotoxicity against carcinogenic cells.
Marcucci et al. (2001) analysed a propo-
lis sample from Paraná, Brazil, and reported
four phenolic compounds named as 3-pre-
nyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid ( 23 ), 2,2-dime-
thyl-6-carboxyethenyl-2H-1-benzopyran
( 24 ), 3,5-diprenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid
( 25 ) and 2,2-dimethyl-6-carboxyethenyl-8-
prenyl-2H-1-benzopiran ( 26 ) (Fig. 7.4).