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Polyphenolic Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Propolis

ZHANG Hong-cheng, ZHAO Liang-liang, HU Hao, DONG Jie   

  1. National R&D Centre for Bee Product Processing, Bee Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Beijing 100093, China
  • Online:2014-07-15 Published:2014-07-18

Abstract:

In order to evaluate the polyphenolic composition and antioxidant activity of propolis collected from different
areas, nine propolis samples were extracted with 75% aqueous ethanol. The polyphenolic composition of the resulting
extracts was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). Furthermore, the
antioxidant capacity of the extracts was evaluated in vitro by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) as well as Hep G2
cellular assays by flow cytometry. All the propolis samples were rich in polyphenolics, including flavonoids, phenolic acids
and esters. The flavonoids mainly included pinobanksin-3-O-acetate, pinocembrin, chrysin, pinobanksin and galangin; the
phenolic acids and related esters mainly included caffeic acid phenethyl ester, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid and isoferulic
acid. In addition, the ORAC assay showed that all the propolis samples had free-radical scavenging activities; the same
results were obtained in Hep G2 cellular assays. Our results indicated that propolis with strong antioxidant capacity usually
contained large amounts of polyphenolic compounds.

Key words: propolis, polyphenolics, antioxidant properties