Effect of the geographical origin on antibacterial and antifungal activity of Egyptian propolis as a natural product of honeybee colonies.

Representative samples of propolis were collected from honeybee colonies established in four geographical regions of Egypt. Propolis ethanol extracts (PEE) were prepared in five concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm). The un-fractionated extracts were then used to find out their antimicrobial activities on eleven species of microorganisms. The fungus Aspergillus niger was more resistant to the first three concentrations of propolis ethanol extracts (PEE) of all samples. Yeast, S. cerevisiae was more tolerant to the action of PEE than Candida albicans. Staphylococcus aureus, as a pathogenic bacterium, was found to be more sensitive towards PEE than Actenomyces bovis. The same trend was observed for the two thermophilic bacteria, (Streptococcus thermophilus and Mycobacerium phlei). Sporeforming Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus casei, Sarcina spp. and the Gram-negative Escherichia coli, were strongly affected by all PEE. A clear effect of the geographical origin of propolis was distinguished where the efficiency evaluation could be arranged according to its geographical origin as follows; North Delta, South Delta 2, East Delta, South Delta 1 and West Delta, respectively. In general, the results appeared the strong antimicrobial impact of the tested PEE samples obtained under Egyptian conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]