title: Chemical and functional characterisation of propolis collected from East Andalusia (southern Spain).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Propolis is a complex mixture of natural sticky, gummy and resinous components produced by honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) from plant materials. However, phytochemical data of the Andalusian (southern Spain) propolis are scant.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary objectives of this study were to chemically characterise the compounds and evaluate the anti-oxidant activity found in 28 Andalusian propolis samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ethanol extracts of propolis (EEP) were prepared and examined for their anti-oxidant activity by 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assays. To characterise the phenolic composition, the presence of 11 compounds was identified by HPLC analysis with photodiode array and mass spectrometric detection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All propolis samples had strong anti-oxidant activity, accompanied by high total phenolic content. The most abundant compounds were flavonoids. Concerning the phenolic compounds content, our results showed that the 75% of the samples analysed contained at least 80 mg/g of flavonoids, primarily pinobanksin 3-acetate, pinocembrin, chrysin, galangin and pinobanksin. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester was detected in almost all EEP samples but in smaller proportions (mean 12.9 ± 2.8 mg/g).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present investigation constitutes the first comprehensive report on the phenolics identified in southern Spanish propolis. The results revealed that the samples tested showed a high scavenging activity and therefore indicate the possible use of Andalusian propolis as an important source of natural anti-oxidants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422-8526, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigenori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumazawa
authors.forename: Josep Serra
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bonvehí
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Ahn
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mok-Ryeon
authors.forename: Francisco José Orantes
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Bermejo
mesh_terms: D052160:Benzothiazoles / Q000378:metabolism; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D010851:Picrates / Q000378:metabolism; D011429:Propolis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013030:Spain; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013451:Sulfonic Acids / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D052160:Benzothiazoles; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D005419:Flavonoids; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D010851:Picrates; D013451:Sulfonic Acids; C002502:2,2'-azino-di-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid; D011429:Propolis; C004931:1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl
keywords: Andalusia; Spain; anti-oxidant activity; phenolic; propolis