Potentialities of the Colombian propolis in pharmaceutics and cosmetics: A standpoint from the quality control

SUMMARY Propolis is a hive product made by bees from vegetable exudates that are mixed with their secretions. The value of this material is established in terms of the content of biologically active molecules, that analytically is represented by parameters such as ethanol-soluble compounds (resins), oxidation index, phenolic compounds and total content of flavonoids. On the contrary, if propolis has a high percentage of waxes, mechanic impurities or heavy metals, it is classified as a sub-standard beekeeping product. On this basis, this research work illustrates the use of quality control as a strategy to identify the possible application of two samples of Colombian propolis for developing innovative pharmaceutic and cosmetic formulations. The results evidence that the investigated samples are low-quality propolis because of their high waxes content. However, far from being a disadvantage, these waxes could generate added value when they are incorporated, for example, in products requiring lipid components as nano and microparticulate systems or nanofibrous composite scaffolds and films.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Correa-González,Yuly Ximena, Rojas-Cardozo,Maritza Adelina, Mora-Huertas,Claudia Elizabeth
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Departamento de Farmácia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidade Nacional da Colombia 2019
Online Access:http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-74182019000300762
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:SUMMARY Propolis is a hive product made by bees from vegetable exudates that are mixed with their secretions. The value of this material is established in terms of the content of biologically active molecules, that analytically is represented by parameters such as ethanol-soluble compounds (resins), oxidation index, phenolic compounds and total content of flavonoids. On the contrary, if propolis has a high percentage of waxes, mechanic impurities or heavy metals, it is classified as a sub-standard beekeeping product. On this basis, this research work illustrates the use of quality control as a strategy to identify the possible application of two samples of Colombian propolis for developing innovative pharmaceutic and cosmetic formulations. The results evidence that the investigated samples are low-quality propolis because of their high waxes content. However, far from being a disadvantage, these waxes could generate added value when they are incorporated, for example, in products requiring lipid components as nano and microparticulate systems or nanofibrous composite scaffolds and films.