Biological properties of volatile oil from Brazilian brown propolis

Propolis, is a bee product collected from exudates and flower buds of several plants, has strong aroma and several biological applications. This study aimed at evaluating the chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic properties of volatile oil from Brazilian brown propolis. It was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Volatile oil from brown propolis exhibited strong antibacterial activity against H. pylori (MIC 3.25 μg/ml), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MIC 50 μg/ml) and M. avium (MIC 62.5 μg/ml). It was evaluated in vitro for antioxidant activity by DPPH (IC50 25.0 μg/ml) and ABTS (IC50 30.1 μg/ml) methods. Its cytotoxic property was evaluated in normal (human fibroblasts, GM07429A) and tumor (MCF-7-human breast adenocarcinoma; HeLa-human cervical adenocarcinoma and M059J-human glioblastoma) cell lines. IC50 values were 81.32 μg/ml for GM07429A and 85.00, 129.40 and 84.12 μg/ml for MCF-7, HeLa and M059J cells, respectively. Three major dereplicated components of volatile oil from brown propolis were acetophenone (15.2%), nerolidol (13.3%), and spathulenol (11.6%). Our results contribute to a better understanding of the chemical and biological properties of Brazilian brown propolis and provide evidence for its potential medicinal use. Keywords: Apis mellifera, Resin, Balsamic substances, Volatiles, Apitherapy