What is Propolis
Propolis is a widely used phytotherapeutic remedy, which can derive from both plants and animals: even the latter, in fact, use antibiotic substances to protect themselves from bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.
Propolis is used by bees to "paint" the internal walls of the hive, in particular the queen's chamber, which is properly disinfected before egg laying begins.
The collected resins are transformed into propolis thanks to the digestive secretions of bees, which contain enzymes capable of extracting substances with important medicinal properties from the resin.
Active principles
Propolis contains several active ingredients:
- Flavonoids: galangin, apigenin, kaempferol, pinocembrina;
- Aromatic aldehydes: vanillin and isovanillin;
- Polyphenols and aromatic compounds;
- Phenolacids and their esters;
- Derivatives of benzoic acid: gentisic acid, salicylic acid and gallic acid;
- Derivatives of cinnamic acid: caffeic acid and ferulic acid;
- Alcohols
- Phenolic compounds: pterostylbenzene and xantorreol;
- Terpenes: eudesmol, essential oil (0.5-1.2%).
In addition to these active ingredients, propolis is rich in waxes, resins, balsams, pollen, fats and sterols, amino acids (16%), polysaccharides, trace elements (calcium, iron, copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, silicon, vanadium and titanium ), vitamins of group B and provitamin A.
Property
Clinical tests carried out on 16,000 patients have highlighted the very important activities that propolis is able to exert on the organism: in particular, its high antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal power has been highlighted.
Numerous experiments, both in vivo and in vitro, have demonstrated the ability of propolis, in a 10-20% hydroalcoholic solution, to inhibit the development of various bacterial strains, such as Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Bacillus alvei, Bacillus subtilis, numerous salmonellae, staphylococci, streptococci, Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
The constituents of propolis most involved in the antimicrobial activity are, in addition to the essential oil, the flavonoids (among other things, this category of compounds plays a key role in strengthening the immune system), in particular galangin, pinocembrin and chrysin, and the chlorogenic, caffeic and benzoic acids.
Therapeutic activities
Antimicrobial activity
The antimicrobial activity is correlated to the concentration of the active ingredients, which unfortunately is extremely variable; this is the reason why it becomes important to be able to standardize the products to be administered on the market.
The synergistic effects that propolis shows in relation to various synthetic antibiotics (such as tetracyclines, neomycin, polymyxin, penicillin, streptomycin and viomycin) on cultures of Streptococcus aureus and of Escherichia coli. This activity is linked both to a direct action on germs and to the stimulus it exerts on the processes of humoral and cell-mediated immunity.
Antifungal activity
The antifungal activity of propolis is to be attributed to the presence of pinocembrin and pinobankin, in combined and synergistic action with caffeic acid and benzyl p-coumarate; the experiments have shown and highlighted propolis fungicidal properties on Candida infections (albicans, tropicalis , ...), on saccharomycetes, ringworms and microspores, which cause mycosis on the skin of humans and animals.
Fungicidal actions have been tested with satisfactory results even on fungi that act on plants.
Antiviral activities
The antiviral properties of propolis are to be found mainly in the water-soluble components. Propolis demonstrates a good antiviral activity of inhibition on the Herpes simplex genera and some members of the Coronavirus family, but also on the viral strains of influenza A and B, parainfluenza 1-2-3, adenovirus and respiratory viruses.
Propolis - effects and benefits of propolis "
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