Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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ANTIBACTERIAL EFFICIENCY OF FIVE PROPOLIS EXTRACTS ON PLANKTONIC AND ADHERENT MICROBIAL STRAINS

ABBAS HAZEM 1, CARMEN VIOLETA POPESCU 3,4*, IULIANA CRIȘAN 3, MARCELA POPA 2, MARIANA CARMEN CHIFIRIUC 2, GRAȚIELA GRADIȘTEANU PIRCALABIORU 2, DUMITRU LUPULIASA 1

1.“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
2.Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, ICUB, Bucharest, Romania
3.S.C. HOFIGAL Export Import S.A., Bucharest, Romania
4.“Vasile Goldiş” Western University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Arad, Romania

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Due to its complex composition which includes esters, flavonoids, terpenes and coumaric acids, propolis harbours a wide array of biological activities. Among these, the antimicrobial activity is well established. We used reference strains represented by Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and we determined the MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) and MBEC (minimum biofilm eradication concentration) values for different propolis extracts (30% aqueous propolis solution, 50% aqueous propolis solution and 30% aqueous propolis solution, buffered to pH = 6.8; 30% propolis tincture and 50% propolis tincture). The results of the quantitative tests revealed the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm characteristics of the propolis extracts, highlighting their potential use as antimicrobial agents. Importantly, the more diluted aqueous and alcoholic extracts (30%), were the higher efficiency compared to the concentrated ones (50%), had thus suggesting the need for an aqueous medium to optimally solubilize the antimicrobial compounds.