Chemical properties of propolis collected by stingless bees

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the chemical composition of propolis collected by stingless bees. For this purpose eight ethanol extracts of propolis collected by Melipona favosa from Venezuela, Melipona grandis, Scaptotrigona depilis, and Scaptotrigona polysticta from Bolivia, and Tetragonula biroi from Philippines were prepared and analyzed. According to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) results, aliphatic acids and their esters, alcohols, aromatic acids and their esters, hydrocarbons and terpenes were identified from propolis samples. All three Venezuelan propolis include clay. Bolivian propolis include more components than propolis from the Philippines. We found kaur-16-ene (8 beta,13 beta), olean-12-ene, 3-keto-urs-12-ene in propolis collected by stingless bees, as new compounds observed only in Bolivian propolis.