Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES FOR STANDARDIZATION OF HIDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACTS OF PROPOLIS FROM THE WEST REGION OF ROMANIA

GEORGETA HERMINA CONEAC1#, LAVINIA VLAIA1#, IOANA OLARIU1, VINCENȚIU VLAIA2*, DUMITRU LUPULEASA3, CĂLIN POPOIU4

1.”Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Eftimie Murgu Square 1, 300041, Timişoara, Romania
2.“Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Organic Chemistry, Eftimie Murgu Square 1, 300041, Timişoara, Romania
3.“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Traian Vuia 6, 020956, Bucharest, Romania
4.“Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Eftimie Murgu Square 1, 300041, Timişoara, Romania

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The large variability of the active principles concentration in the same batch of commercial propolis is well-known. Although the batch of commercial propolis acquired originates from the same apiary, it does not mean that it has a unitary chemical composition, because it is obtained from different beehives, which leads to large variations of quality and impurification degree. Consequently, the differences will be considerably greater in case the raw material comes from different apiaries. The aims of this study were: to examine the concentration variability of active components in the propolis samples collected in September 2011 in the West side of Romania, from different apiaries and to obtain a propolis extract with a reproducible composition of active principles within certain limits. From each propolis sample there were prepared three hydroalcoholic extracts with 20%, 60% and 96% ethanol, which were analysed by an HPLC method regarding the content in bioactive compounds (flavonoids and polyphenolic derivatives). The HPLC quantitative profiles of the extracts revealed significant differences in terms of the bioactive compounds content among all the three propolis sorts, but also among the samples obtained from the same propolis sort; these variations can be attributed to the non uniformity of the raw material. For all propolis extracts, the quantity of extracted bioactive compounds increased with ethanol concentration significantly. However, the most appropriate concentration of ethanol for extraction was that of 60%, the resulting extracts presenting the highest content of chrysin, the flavonoidic component quantitatively predominant in all the analysed propolis samples. Moreover, the propolis extract obtained by blending batches of extracts can represent a starting point of further research for standardization.