Abstract
BackgroundBee products (including propolis, royal jelly, and bee pollen) are popular, traditional health foods. We compared antioxidant effects among water and ethanol extracts of Brazilian green propolis (WEP or EEP), its main constituents, water-soluble royal jelly (RJ), and an ethanol extract of bee pollen.MethodsThe hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-, superoxide anion (O2·-)-, and hydroxyl radical (HO·)- scavenging capacities of bee products were measured using antioxidant capacity assays that employed the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-sensitive probe 5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate, acetyl ester (CM-H2DCFDA) or aminophenyl fluorescein (APF).ResultsThe rank order of antioxidant potencies was as follows: WEP > EEP > pollen, but neither RJ nor 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) had any effects. Concerning the main constituents of WEP, the rank order of antioxidant effects was: caffeic acid > artepillin C > drupanin, but neither baccharin nor coumaric acid had any effects. The scavenging effects of caffeic acid were as powerful as those of trolox, but stronger than those of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) or vitamin C.ConclusionOn the basis of the present assays, propolis is the most powerful antioxidant of all the bee product examined, and its effect may be partly due to the various caffeic acids it contains. Pollen, too, exhibited strong antioxidant effects.
Highlights
Bee products are popular, traditional health foods
Effects of Brazilian green propolis on intracellular oxidation To investigate the effects of Water extract of propolis (WEP) and EEP on the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anion (O2·-), and hydroxyl radical (HO·), we employed antioxidant-capacity assays using one of the two reactive oxygen species (ROS)-sensitive probes, CM-H2DCFDA or aminophenyl fluorescein (APF)
Effects of main constituents of WEP on intracellular oxidation To investigate which WEP constituents might be responsible for its strong antioxidative effects, we examined the antioxidant effects of three main constituents of WEP (3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, and 3-caffeoylquinic acid) (Figure 3)
Summary
Bee products (including propolis, royal jelly, and bee pollen) are popular, traditional health foods. We compared antioxidant effects among water and ethanol extracts of Brazilian green propolis (WEP or EEP), its main constituents, water-soluble royal jelly (RJ), and an ethanol extract of bee pollen. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) makes various bee products from plants, flower nectar, and flower pollen, and humans make use of these products. Bee products are well known in traditional medicine, and have a very long history. These days, their uses have expanded from the health food arena into the medical one. RJ has several pharmacological activities, including vasodilator/hypotensive [8] and anti-tumor activities [9], and it is widely used in commercially available drugs and health foods, as well as in cosmetics, in many countries. RJ has slight antioxidant effects, these are weaker than those of vitamin E [10]
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