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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

Relationship between total phenolic contents and biological properties of propolis from 20 different regions in South Korea

Authors: Xue Wang, Karuppasamy Sankarapandian, Yizhe Cheng, Soon Ok Woo, Hyung Wook Kwon, Haribalan Perumalsamy, Young-Joon Ahn

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

Propolis (or bee glue), collected from botanical sources by honey bee, has been used as a popular natural remedies in folk medicine throughout the world. This study was conducted to assess growth inhibitory effects of ethanol extracts of propolis (EEPs) from 20 different regions in South Korea on human intestinal bacteria as well as their human β-amyloid precursor cleavage enzyme (BACE-1), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anti-human rhinovirus activities.

Methods

The Bonferroni multiple-comparison method was used to test for significant differences in total polyphenol and flavonoid contents among EEP samples using SAS 9.13 program. Correlation coefficient (r) analysis of the biological activities of EEP samples was determined using their 50 % inhibition concentration or minimal inhibitory concentration values and their polyphenol or flavonoid contents in 20 native Korean EEP samples.

Results

The amounts of total polyphenol and flavonoids in the Korean EEP samples ranged from 49 to 239 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g EEP (Brazilian, Chinese, and Australian samples, 127–142 mg GAE/g EEP) and from 21 to 50 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g EEP (Brazilian, Chinese, and Australian samples, 33–53 mg QE/g EEP), respectively. Correlation coefficient analysis showed that total polyphenol contents may be negatively correlated with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity (r = −0.872) and total flavonoid content has no correlation with the activity (r = 0.071). No direct correlation between BACE-1 inhibition, AChE inhibition, or antiproliferative activity and total polyphenol or total flavonoid content in Korean EEP samples was found. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were observed to have different degrees of antimicrobial susceptibility to the EEP samples examined, although ciprofloxacin susceptibility among the bacterial groups did not differ greatly.

Conclusions

Further studies will warrant possible applications of propolis as potential therapeutic BACE-1 blocker, antioxidant, antiproliferative agent, and antimicrobial agent.
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Metadata
Title
Relationship between total phenolic contents and biological properties of propolis from 20 different regions in South Korea
Authors
Xue Wang
Karuppasamy Sankarapandian
Yizhe Cheng
Soon Ok Woo
Hyung Wook Kwon
Haribalan Perumalsamy
Young-Joon Ahn
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-016-1043-y

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