Abstract: Four furofuran lignans were isolated from Chinese propolis by column chromatography. They were identified by spectroscopic methods as sesamin, yangambin, (+)-pinoresinol and (+)-syringaresinol. Among them, (+)-pinoresinol and (+)-syringaresinol were isolated for the first time from propolis. Their antioxidant activity was evaluated by measuring the inhibition of lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes, with IC50 values of 9.0～14.0μg/ml.

Key words: Propolis , Furofuran lignan , Antioxidant activity