InciDEncia De La Temperatura y La Luz En Propóleos De Amaicha Del Valle

Journal of Apicultural Research and Bee World 48(4): 270-278 (2009)

© IBRA 2009

DOI 10.3896/IBRA.1.48.4.07

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Thermal stability of propolis from Tucumán,
Argentina
Mariela González1*, María Inés Gómez2, María Laura Tereschuk1 and Amelia Molina2
1
2

Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Av. Roca 1700, (4000), Tucumán,Argentina.
Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. UNT, Ayacucho 491. San Miguel de Tucumán (4000), Tucumán, Argentina.

Received 22 August 2008, accepted subject to revision 24 January 2009, accepted for publication 18 July 2009.
*Corresponding author: Email: magonzalez@herrera.unt.edu.ar

Summary
Propolis, the material used by bees to protect their hives, is a glue-like substancecomposed of plant resins, bee waxes and pollens. A large
number of flavonoids have been identified in propolis and the content of flavonoids is considered as an important index for evaluating propolis
quality. The aim of this work was to study temperature effects on propolis from Amaicha del Valle (Tucumán, Argentina) and some of the
main active flavonoids. Thermal analysis was carried out bythermogravimetric (TGA) and thermodifferential analysis (DTA). The identification
of compounds was carried out by different spectroscopic methods: Ultraviolet (UV), Infrared (IR), 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR)
and Electronic Impact Mass Spectrometry (EIMS). The propolis from Amaicha del Valle and apigenin, chrysin and galangin were found to be
stable from room temperature to 120ºC.Estabilidad termal de propóleos del Tucumán, Argentina
Resumen
El propóleos, material usado por las abejas para proteger sus colmenas, es una mezcla gomosa, compuesta por resinas vegetales, cera de
abejas y polen. Se han identificado varios flavonoides en propóleos y su contenido se considera un índice importante para la evaluación de la
calidad del mismo. El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar elefecto de la temperatura en propóleos de Amaicha del Valle (Tucumán, Argentina)
y en algunos flavonoides mayoritarios activos presentes en aquel. El estudio térmico se realizó mediante análisis termogravimétrico (TGA) y
análisis termodiferencial (DTA). La identificación de los compuestos fue realizada por distintos métodos espectroscópicos: ultravioleta (UV),
Infrarrojo (IR), RMN H1 yespectrometría de masa con impacto electrónico (EIMS). Se encontró que los propóleos de Amaicha del Valle y los
flavonoides apigenina, crisina y galangina son estables en el rango de temperatura desde temperatura ambiente hasta 120ºC.

Keywords: propolis, chrysin, galangin, apigenin, thermal analysis, DTA, TGA

Introduction

it is used as a health food. Propolis is now found in toothpastes,Propolis or bee glue, the material used by bees to protect their hives,

increased to several tonnes per year (Ackermann, 1991).

is a glue-like substance composed of plant resins, bee waxes and

chocolates, shampoos, creams, tablets, etc. and world production has
The chemical composition of propolis is complex, and a single

pollens. It is known to have been used in folk medicine as early aspropolis sample can contain more than 300 components, depending

300 BC. Since various biological activities of propolis such as

on the plant source and its geographical origin (Ghisalberti, 1979;

antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anaesthetic properties

Lima, et al., 2009). Fatty and phenolic acids and their esters,

have been found, (Ghisalberti, 1979; Marcucci,1995; Burdock, 1998),

aromatic aldehydes and alcohols, sesquiterpenes, naphtalene and

Thermal stability of propolis

271

stilbene compounds, as well as a large number of flavonoids, have all

structural information on small quantities of pure samples as well as

been identified in propolis (Bankova et al., 1983). Among these

on mixtures. Mass spectra obtained under electron...