Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 3.0

Preliminary Screening for Various Bioactivities in Honey and Propolis Extracts from Thai Bees

Jirattikarn Kaewmuangmoon, Pawornrat Nonthapa, Atsalek Rattanawannee, Pakorn Winayanuwattikun, Chanpen Chanchao

European Journal of Medicinal Plants · pp. 74–92 · Published 4 Feb 2012

10.9734/EJMP/2012/941

Abstract

Aims: Honey and propolis have long been used in traditional medicine whilst honey is consumed as food. A screening for various bioactivities in honey from Apis florea and A. andreniformis, and the crude water and ethanol extracts of propolis from A. mellifera and Tetragonula laeviceps, from Thailand are reported. Study Design: Cell based study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, between June 2010 and April 2011. Methodology: Various components such as protein, sugar, gluconic acid were assayed in honey while total sugar, reducing sugar, total polyphenol and flavonoid content were assayed in crude propolis. Samples were tested for in vitro antimicrobial, in vitro antiplasmodial and antiproliferative activities. Results: The crude propolis extracts showed good bioactivities. Antibacterial activity was found against Bacillus cereus (a model Gram-positive bacteria) in the water extracts of propolis from T. laeviceps (TLW) and A. mellifera (AMW), with MIC values of 50 and 100 µg/ml, respectively, whilst against Escherichia coli (a model Gram-negative bacteria), TLE revealed some 24.0% growth inhibition. Most interestingly, the ethanol extract of propolis from T. laeviceps (TLE) displayed a strong anti-malarial activity with a MIC of 4.48 µg/ml against in vitro Plasmodium falciparum growth, whilst AMW revealed a high inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth (74.3%). Furthermore, TLW (50 µg/ml) provided the highest anti-Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 replication activity at 33.0% without any sign of cytotoxicity to the host Vero cells. Finally, in vitro anti-proliferation activity against four cancer cell lines in tissue culture was noted with IC50 vales ranging between 25.5 - 29.3 and 26.8 – 49.5 µg/ml for TLE and AME, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, the propolis of Thai A. mellifera and T. laeviceps exhibit diverse and some novel bioactivities worthy of further enrichment and characterization.

Honey propolis anti-malarial antiproliferation antimicrobial activity

References (44)

  1. 1 Use of Dinitrosalicylic Acid Reagent for Determination of Reducing Sugar [DOI]
  2. 2 [14] Analysis of total phenols and other oxidation substrates and antioxidants by means of folin-ciocalteu reagent [DOI]
  3. 3 Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International
  4. 4 World malaria report
  5. 5 Quantitative assessment of antimalarial activity in vitro by a semiautomated microdilution technique [DOI]
  6. 6 Analysis of propolis: some parameters and procedures for chemical quality control [DOI]
  7. 7 Antibiotic assay by agar-well diffusion method
  8. 8 Dietary agents in cancer prevention: flavonoids and isoflavonoids [DOI]
  9. 9 Propolis and the immune system: a review [DOI]
  10. 10 Recent trends and important developments in propolis research [DOI]
  11. 11 Biological activities and chemical composition of three honeys of different types from Anatolia [DOI]
  12. 12 Honey quality and international regulatory standards: review by the International Honey Commission [DOI]
  13. 13 Microorganisms in honey [DOI]
  14. 14 Polyphenol contents and antioxidant activity of lyophilized aqueous extract of propolis from Erzurum, Turkey [DOI]
  15. 15 Clinical observations on the wound healing properties of honey [DOI]
  16. 16 Microbiological and chemical characterization of honeys from central Argentina [DOI]
  17. 17 Comparison of the antimicrobial activity of Ulmo honey from Chile and Manuka honey against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. [DOI]
  18. 18 Improved Green Fluorescent Protein Reporter Gene-BasedMicroplate Screening for Antituberculosis Compounds by Utilizing anAcetamidasePromoter [DOI]
  19. 19 The contribution of catalase and other natural products to the antibacterial activity of honey: a review [DOI]
  20. 20 Natural Honey Lowers Plasma Glucose, C-Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, and Blood Lipids in Healthy, Diabetic, and Hyperlipidemic Subjects: Comparison with Dextrose and Sucrose [DOI]
  21. 21 GFP-expressing mammalian cells for fast, sensitive, noninvasive cell growth assessment in a kinetic mode [DOI]
  22. 22 Total phenolic content, antiradical, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Rhododendron honeys [DOI]
  23. 23 Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of European Propolis [DOI]
  24. 24 Comparison of the antibacterial activity of honey from different provenance against bacteria usually isolated from skin wounds [DOI]
  25. 25 In vitro antimicrobial activity of propolis samples from different geographical origins against certain oral pathogens [DOI]
  26. 26 Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of propolis from several regions of Korea [DOI]
  27. 27 Acacia honey and chrysin reduce proliferation of melanoma cells through alterations in cell cycle progression [DOI]
  28. 28 Biological activities of Portuguese propolis: Protection against free radical-induced erythrocyte damage and inhibition of human renal cancer cell growth in vitro [DOI]
  29. 29 A green fluorescent protein-based assay for determining gametocyte production in Plasmodium falciparum [DOI]
  30. 30 Characterization of honey produced in Venezuela [DOI]
  31. 31 Mechanism of herpes simplex virus type 2 suppression by propolis extracts [DOI]
  32. 32 Topical honey application vs. acyclovir for the treatment of recurrent herpes simplex lesions.
  33. 33 Sonoran Propolis: Chemical Composition and Antiproliferative Activity on Cancer Cell Lines [DOI]
  34. 34 Study on the Constituents of Mexican Propolis and Their Cytotoxic Activity against PANC-1 Human Pancreatic Cancer Cells [DOI]
  35. 35 Effect of the water extracts of propolis on stimulation and inhibition of different cells [DOI]
  36. 36 Determination of organic acids and sugars in cheese, milk and whey by high performance liquid chromatography [DOI]
  37. 37 Antifungal Activity of the Honeybee Products Against Candida spp. and Trichosporon spp. [DOI]
  38. 38 Fingerprinting of propolis by easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry [DOI]
  39. 39 The Relationships between Phenolic Content, Pollen Diversity, Physicochemical Information and Radical Scavenging Activity in Honey [DOI]
  40. 40 Anti inflammatory effect of natural honey on bovine thrombin‐induced oxidative burst in phagocytes [DOI]
  41. 41 Antidiabetic effect of propolis: reduction of expression of glucose‐6‐phosphatase through inhibition of Y279 and Y216 autophosphorylation of GSK‐3α/β in HepG2 cells [DOI]
  42. 42 Antimycobacterial screening of traditional medicinal plants using the microplate resazurin assay [DOI]
  43. 43 Antiretroviral activity of two polyisoprenylated acylphloroglucinols, 7-epi-nemorosone and plukenetione A, isolated from Caribbean propolis [DOI]
  44. 44 THE RELATION OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HONEY AND THE CRYSTALLIZATION SENSITIVE PARAMETERS (This project was funded by the Commission of the European Communities under the craft action of the Brite-Euram programme)

Cited by 20

Comparative toxicities of commonly used agricultural insecticides to four honey bee species (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Vietnam

Thai H. Pham, Ngoc T. Phan, Duy D. Trinh · Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology · 2025

The preservative effect of Thai propolis extract on the viability of human periodontal ligament cells

Attaporn Prueksakorn, Subin Puasiri, Supanigar Ruangsri · Dental Traumatology · 2016

Antioxidant and Anti-cancer Cell Proliferation Activity of Propolis Extracts from Two Extraction Methods

Supakit Khacha-ananda, Khajornsak Tragoolpua, Panuwan Chantawannakul · Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention · 2013

Showing 7 of 20 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

52

Page views

0

PDF downloads

8

Outbound clicks

20

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.