Abstract
Propolis is a natural bee product with various beneficial biological effects. The health-promoting properties of propolis depend on its chemical composition, particularly the presence of phenolic compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between extraction solvent (acetone 100%, ethanol 70% and 96%) and the antifungal, antioxidant, and cytoprotective activity of the extracts obtained from propolis. Concentrations of flavonoids and phenolic acids in the propolis extracts were determined using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography. The antioxidant potential of different extracts was assessed on the basis of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·) free-radical-scavenging activity, Fe3+-reducing power, and ferrous ion (Fe2+)-chelating activity assays. The ability of the extracts to protect human red blood cell membranes against free-radical-induced damage and their antifungal activity was also determined. The results showed that the concentration of flavonoids in the propolis extracts was dependent on the solvent used in the extraction process and pinocembrin, chrysin, galangin, and coumaric acid were the most abundant phenols. All extracts exhibited high antioxidant potential and significantly protected human erythrocytes against oxidative damage. On the other hand, the antifungal activity of the propolis extracts depended on the solvent used in extraction and the fungal strains tested. It needs to be stressed that, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study relating the effect of solvent used for extraction of Polish propolis to its phenolic profile, and its antifungal, antioxidant, and cytoprotective activity.
Highlights
Propolis is a natural product collected by honeybees from various plant sources growing around hives, including flowers, buds, or tree exudates [1,2,3]
The concentrations of selected phenolic compounds, namely, flavonoids and phenolic acids, in the propolis extracts are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively
Pinocembrin, galangin, and chrysin (Table 1), which were detected in all the tested propolis extracts at the highest concentrations, were previously reported in propolis collected from various regions of Poland, and they are regularly detected in propolis from around of the world [4,11,14,19,28,34,36,37,38,39]
Summary
Propolis is a natural product collected by honeybees from various plant sources growing around hives, including flowers, buds, or tree exudates [1,2,3]. Extracts of propolis have been used in folk medicine since early times for numerous purposes, especially as a remedy for various diseases [4,5,6]. Propolis is being extensively investigated in various applications, especially in medicine, pharmacy, cosmetology, and the food industry [1,3]. It is used as a component of functional food, dietary supplements, preparations for cold symptoms, or dermatological preparations used in wound healing [6,7]. Propolis has been proven to exhibit, e.g., antifungal, antibacterial, anticancer, and antioxidant properties [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]
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