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Acosta presented the highest values in TPC
and TFC (Table 7.6). The sample from Juan de
Acosta showed the highest TPC value but the
lowest in TFC; this could be because flavonoids
are not the only compounds with antioxidant
capacity and maybe another type of phenolic
substance could be involved (Huang
et al
.,
2005; Mohammadzadeh
et al
., 2007).
results it is evident that the variability in
chemical composition is strongly influ-
enced by geographical zones where the
propolis samples were collected and this
factor is closely related to the vegetation
used by bees to produce propolis.
On the other hand, differences in com-
position are clearly seen when the samples
were collected in the dry season with
respect to other periods of collection.
Moreover, some differences in composition
and antioxidant activity can be appreciated
depending on the method of collection. The
samples that were collected by the plastic
trap method showed the highest phenolic
and flavonoid content, and showed the best
results in the antioxidant methods.
Finally, although most of the activities
are attributed to phenolic compounds, there
are, particularly in tropical regions, other
classes of metabolites that could be respon-
sible, i.e. terpenes. As can be noted, there
are several factors influencing the metabolic
profile of propolis. For standardization of
Colombian propolis, as an active principle
and cosmetic ingredient, there is a need to
carry out further chemical and biological
analysis with samples from other depart-
ments to create a regulation that represents
Colombia's scene.
7.4.6 Final comments on TPC,
TFC and antioxidant activity
of Colombian propolis
Almost all samples, with the exception of
CH-1T, DM-1T and LA-1T, meet the Brazilian
regulation for TPC (50 mg GAE/g EEP). It is
important to note that the samples that do
not comply with TPC minimum values were
collected in the same season using the
scraping method. A different situation is
observed with respect to TFC analysis: all
the samples obtained from the Southern
region of Antioquia comply with Brazilian
values for TFC (5 mg/g of EEP) but none of
the samples of the Northern region reached
the minimum value for TFC. The highest
values of TFC for samples of this region
were CH-3R (3.91) and LA-3T (3.52). From
the group of samples of the Atlantic region,
only the sample from Santo Tomás meets
the TFC standard value.
When we analyse the antioxidant activ-
ity shown by the extracts, a strong relation-
ship between TPC values, TFC values and
antioxidant capacity can be observed. The
propolis extracts (Betania, LA-2T, DM-2T,
CH-2T, Galapa, Santo Tomás) that showed
the highest TP and TF content were the
samples with the best DPPH, ABTS and
FRAP values. As mentioned before, phe-
nolic and flavonoid compounds are consid-
ered to contribute to the biological and
pharmacological activities shown by this
resinous substance and our results are in
agreement with that.
Additionally, we can visualize some
factors, referred to in many studies, that can
influence the chemical composition of
propolis and therefore the biological activi-
ties that they present. On the basis of our
7.5
Concluding Remarks
There are many studies on the chemical
composition and biological activities of
propolis from different regions around
the world. Most of them have essentially
established a correlation between the
pharmacological properties and the chem-
ical composition. Additionally, the varia-
bility of compounds found in propolis
samples is strongly influenced by the sur-
rounding flora. Although Colombia is a
tropical country with a great biodiversity,
beekeeping is a poorly developed sector
and this leads to a general lack of know-
ledge with regard to the characterization
of products from the beehive. Furthermore,
our country does not have an official
regulation to establish the quality of the
propolis. For those reasons, a priority is to
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