Study on propolis quality from Argentina

ISLA M.I.

Tucuman

Simposio; Bio Cell 29(1), 2005- XXI Jornadas Científicas de la Asociación de Biología de Tucumán; 2004

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

Propolis is a natural resinous product, elaborated by honeybees. Raw propolis is composed of resin (flavonoids and related phenolic acids and regarded as the polyphenolic fraction ), wax, essential oils, pollen and various organic compounds. Up to now, more than 180 compounds, mainly polyphenols, have been identified as constituents of propolis. The chemical composition of propolis depends on the vegetation at the site of collection, honeybees type and recollection time. Because of the geographical differences, propolis samples from Europe, North America, south America and Asia have different chemical compositions. Due to this, the biological activities (antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral,, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer activities) of propolis from different areas are also different. At the present in Argentina there are more than two millions of hives with a production of 300 g of propolis/hive/year. This product is able to become an important economical resource for Argentine. The purpose of our investigation was determined the quality criterion for Argentine propolis (physicochemical parameters, biological activities as well as toxicity of them). Propolis from twenty-five regions were collected for this study. The phenolic compounds composition of Argentina propolis has been found quantitatively and qualitatively variable, depending on the plant ecology environment. The North Argentina propolis were classificated in four groups according to separation patterns in HPLC and RPHPTLC. Otherwise, some North Argentina propolis exhibit antibacterial, antimutagenic, anti-inflammatory and inmunomodulatory activities. Protective action against oxidative modification of lipid and reactive oxygen species scavenging activities (ROS) were also demonstrated. Furthermore, this propolis do not exhibit mutagenicity, genotoxicity nor citotoxicity in different biological systems (Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100, Allium cepa and Artemia salina, respectively). Our results suggest a potential use of Argentina propolis as phytopharmaceutic products and for food conservation.