Antioxidant Activity and Chemical Composition of Colombian Propolis - Natural Antioxidants and Biocides from Wild Medicinal Plants - page 101

Table 7.3. Continued.

Relative abundance (%)

Compounds* Rt (min) B-R C-T C-R LU-T UN-T

7-Hydroxy-4-androstene-
3,17-dione

54.7 - - - 3.5 -

Steroid (not identified) 61.0 - - - - 30.6

Ergosterol 61.4 - - - 5.4 -

3-Hydroxy androstan-
17-one

65.1 - - - - 1.4

Pimaral 62.6 - - - - 2.9

Cycloartane-type
triterpene

68.3 33.4 - - -

Methyl abietate 63.7 - - - - 19.1

17-Hydroxy-4-
androstene-3-one

56.6 - - - 2.5 -

Flavonoids
4 ′ ,5-Dihidroxy-6,7-
dimethoxy-flavone

48.7 1.3 - - - -

5-Hidroxy-3 ′ ,4 ′ ,6,7-
tetramethoxy flavone

51.0 - 1.4 - - -

Phenols
p-(Hydroxymethyl)
phenol

20.2 - - 0.1 - -

p-Hydroxyphenyl
acetic acid

24.3 - - 0.7 - -

Melibiosa (Disacárido) 65.8 - - - 1.4 -

4-Hydroxyphenyl
ethanol

19.2 - - - 0.3 -

Others
Unidentified compound 62.9 - - - 19.5 -

Vismiaquinone 48.9 - - - - 1.7

B-R, Betania-scraping; C-T, Caldas-trap; C-R, Caldas-scraping; LU-T, La Unión-trap; UN-T, Apiary Universidad
Nacional-Medellín.

composed of fatty acids and their ester
derivatives, pentacyclic triterpenes and
diterpene acids. The methodology employed
did not allow the detection of flavonoid and
phenolic type compounds.
In conclusion, the Colombian propolis
is somewhat comparable to Brazilian prop-
olis originating from Araucaria species,
which is also rich in labdane diterpene
acids (communic, isocupressic, acetyl-
isocupressic, imbricatoloic) (Bankova
et al ., 1996). In the same way, the chemical
profile is similar to the profile of yellow
Cuban propolis, which is rich in triterp-
enes and sterols (Cuesta-Rubio et al ., 2007;
Márquez et al ., 2010). These studies on the
chemical composition of Colombian prop-
olis could help to establish criteria for the

classification and the quality control of
national propolis samples.

7.4 Total Phenolic Content, Total
Flavonoid Content and Antioxidant
Activity of Propolis

In biological systems, cells are commonly
faced with free radicals and non-free-radical
species, which are produced by essential
endogenous processes (detoxification,
chemical signals, energy supply, etc.) or
by external sources (Valko et al ., 2007;
Rodrigo, 2009). These chemical sub-
stances, commonly referred to as reactive
oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen