Propolis

Propolis is known as a natural antibiotic and, thanks to new scientific findings, it has recently been called the “medicine of the 21st century”.

In terms of its origin, propolis is a resin-like substance excreted by the tissues of tree buds and bark in order to protect the tree from harmful microorganisms. Bees collect this substance and mix it with a secretion of their mandular glands. The bee enzymes then modify the substance so that the most important ingredient, flavonoids, become pharmacologically active. The word propolis stems from the Greek words pro, meaning defence, and polis, meaning city, together meaning defence of the city, or defence of the hive. Bees use the propolis to close up cracks in the hive, though a more important role of propolis is disinfection of the honey combs prior to laying the young bees. Bees also use propolis to mummify small animals that enter into the hive, which makes them rot. It could then be said that bees use propolis as their own “medicine”.

Flavonoids in propolis

Propolis contains more than 200 components (plant resin, balsams, wax, pollen, organic acids, polyphenols, minerals, vitamins, terpenes, flavonoids...). The most important compounds, pharmacologically, are the flavonoids. Flavonoids are plant pigments that have a protective role in plants. They are known to have many therapeutic activities, including antioxidative, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antitumour activity. They are more frequently mentioned in the treatment of various diseases due to their proven ability to “capture” free radicals and inhibit specific enzymes.

Native purified propolis standardised for flavonoid content

Many factors such as the composition of vegetation, beekeeping, manner of collecting and storing, and the extraction procedure can impact the quality and propolis and its flavonoid content, and with that the therapeutic value of propolis and its products. New analytical methods allow for the standardisation of propolis and its pharmacological content, primarily flavonoids, and thus native (original) propolis is purified, selected, analysed and standardised. The chemical characterisation and standardisation of propolis are prerequisites for its future use in modern medicine. The standardisation of propolis, i.e. the standardisation of amounts of its active compounds and flavonoids, is the foundation for research and development and the production of products under the Farmakol brand name.

Therefore, it is necessary to gradually abandon the current means of labelling propolis with “native” propolis, as this contains more than 50% wax and other compounds, and “% dry matter”. Instead, it is important to standardise the quantity of flavonoids in the final product and to confirm this through analysis.