Botanical origin and antioxidant activities of propolis from the Irano-Turanian region

Abstract

Propolis is a natural bioactive mix and a traditional medicine that has been used for treating several complications. The bioactive properties of propolis are dependent on its botanical origin. This study investigated the pollen composition, antioxidant activities, and the total phenol and total flavonoid content of a propolis sample from the Refahiye (Erzincan, Turkey) region. Melissopalynological analysis conducted according to the relevant literature revealed that the pollen profile of the sample primarily indicated the presence of the Fabaceae (38.4%), Asteraceae (20.2%), and Fagaceae (11.2%) families. The antioxidant ability of propolis extract was analyzed by the hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity (HPSA) (in terms of SC50), ferric reducing antioxidant power capacity (FRAP) (%), DPPH radical scavenging activity (in terms of SC50), metal-chelating activity (%), total phenol content (TPC), and total flavonoid content (TFC), which showed the following values: 11.72 ± 0.04 µg/mL, 90.73% ± 0.24%, 18.34 ± 0.08 µg/mL, 89.69% ± 0.12%, 10673.4 ± 3.30 mg GAE/100 g of propolis sample (PS), and 170.65 ± 1.12 mg QE/100 g of PS, respectively. These results were compared using butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and α -tocopherol (TOC) as standard antioxidant compounds. The high biological activity of propolis from the Refahiye region could be attributed to its rich pollen composition. These results indicate that propolis is an important source in terms of its antioxidant activities.