Comparison of bee products based on assays of antioxidant capacities.
BACKGROUND
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.


METHODS
The 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).


RESULTS
The 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.


CONCLUSIONS
On 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.
Nakajima
Yoshimi
Y
Department of Biofunctional Evaluation, Molecular Pharmacology, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, 5-6-1 Mitahora-higashi, Gifu, Japan. yoshimi_cp@yahoo.co.jp
Tsuruma
Kazuhiro
K
Shimazawa
Masamitsu
M
Mishima
Satoshi
S
Hara
Hideaki
H
D000111:Acetylcysteine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D001516:Bees; D002109:Caffeic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D002839:Chromans / Q000494:pharmacology; D002934:Cinnamates / Q000494:pharmacology; D003373:Coumaric Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010666:Phenylpropionates / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D011058:Pollen; D011429:Propolis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011801:Quinic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D014255:Trichothecenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D000099219:Royal Jelly
D000111:Acetylcysteine; D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D002109:Caffeic Acids; D002839:Chromans; D002934:Cinnamates; D003373:Coumaric Acids; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D010666:Phenylpropionates; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011429:Propolis; D011801:Quinic Acid; D014255:Trichothecenes; D000099219:Royal Jelly; C472707:caffeoylquinic acid; C029010:cinnamic acid; C102259:artepillin C; C055543:10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid; C012764:baccharin; C010643:6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid; C040048:caffeic acid