Phytochemical Profile and Properties Analysis of Propolis

Dear Colleagues,

Propolis, also known as bee glue, is a resinous-waxy substance produced by different bee species. Most of the propolis worldwide is collected from honeybees (Apis mellifera L.). Due to multiple healing properties, propolis is widely used around the world. Its main activities include anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant and wound treatment. Dependences between composition and activity of bee glue are only partially known, despite its properties being well-known. There are many things which may impact propolis activity, but among the most important are plant precursors.

Propolis plant precursors are different resins, gums and exudates produced by plant organs. They may be produced in the physiological or pathological state of the plant (e.g. balsams). Most often, these exudates originate from plant buds, bark or sometimes flowers. Despite many potential plant precursors in local flora, bees exhibit a strong preference to collect specific types of material. For this reason, propolis usually derives from one or two main plant precursors. Therefore, it is possible to divide propolis in several types such as poplar type (Populus nigra L. and Populus species similar have exudates' composition).

As we described before, the plant origin of propolis is one of the most important factors, which affects propolis activity. Usually, propolis originates from one main plant precursor, but bees may also collect material from minor plant sources. Most of the published papers are mainly focused on searching for one main plant precursor, while minor precursors may also have significant impact on propolis activities. Therefore, the current issue is focused of different techniques of phytochemical research of propolis plant composition and tracking its potential plant precursors as well as searching for dependencies between composition and plant origin.

In summary, we encourage submission of manuscripts which are focused on analyzing propolis composition by different techniques (TLC-MS, LC-MS, GC-MS, etc.), detailed investigation of plant precursors and searching for dependences between plant composition and activity of propolis (chemometric and statistical analyses).

Dr. Piotr Okińczyc
Dr. Jakub Szperlik
Dr. Marco Biagi
Guest Editors

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• Propolis
• bee glue
• plant precursor
• analysis
• HPLC
• MS
• MS/MS
• GC
• GC-MS
• chemometry