Phenolics from Brazilian Propolis

Propolis, or bee glue, is a complex resinous mix­ ture of plant-derived products collected and used by bees as a general purpose sealer and antibiotic in their hives. It is reported to exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities, including antibac­ terial, antiviral, antiinflammatory, cytotoxic etc. (Marcucci, 1995). It is widely used in folk medicine and also as an ingredient in “herbal” preparations sold in pharmacies and “health food” stores in Western countries (Matsuda, 1994). The chemical composition of propolis is very complex (Mar­ cucci, 1995) and is dependent upon the source plant. Bud exudates of different poplar species are the main sources of bee glue in the temperate zone including Europe, Asia and North America (Greenaway et al., 1987; Wollenweber et al., 1987; Bankova et al., 1992). Samples originating from these regions are characterized by similar chemical composition; the most important constituents ap­ peared to be phenolics: flavonoids, aromatic acids and their esters (about 50% of the weight of prop­ olis) (Marcucci, 1995). In the last few years, tropi­ cal propolis has become a subject of increasing in­ terest, concerning its chemistry, origin and biological activity (Aga et al., 1994; Tomas-Barberan et al., 1993; Matsuno, 1994; Bankova et al., 1995). A brief review of the results published on the chemical composition of tropical bee glue