Isolation, quantification of the active pharmaceutical compounds in propolis in Vietnam’s rainforests

Abstract

Propolis is a natural resin, collected by honeybees (Apis mellifera) from buds of different plants, added with beewax and salivary secretions, in order to repair and disinfect the beehive. Firstly, the diversity of propolis in tropical areas led us to explore the chemical compositions of Vietnam propolis, especially five samples from Eawy. The one from Europe had an unusual chemical composition (flavonoids, phenolic acids and esters) associated with a “polar” type propolis. The five other propolis extracts showed the presence of major apolar compounds and different minor polyphenols. Materials and methods: A fractionation by Flash chromatography of the ethanolic extract of Eawy propolis resulted in14 fractions, 3 of which were analysed by dereplication (HPLC/UV and HPLC/MS). Results: One of the major compounds of this kind of propolis was purified and analysed by proton NMR. It is a flavanone namely pinocembrine.