A Comparision of Commercial Propolis Extracts in Terms of Quality Parameters

Propolis is a natural bee product, which contains a high amount of biological active components. It is consumed in different extract forms as supplementary food. Standardization of raw propolis is difficult because the composition of raw propolis depends on many factors such as flora of the area, harvesting season, collection style, and bee strain. However, standardization of propolis extract prepared with ethanol rather than raw propolis is achievable. In this study, different commercial propolis extracts were purchased from markets and their quality parameters were compared with each other. The amount of brix, balsam, total phenolic, total flavonoids and condensed tannins were determined in twenty different commercial propolis extracts. Results showed that the amount of brix ranges from 0 to 61, balsam from 7.1% to 95%, total phenolic content from 1% to 9.5%, total flavonoids from 0.1% to 7.8%, and condensed tannins from 0.004% to 0.4% for the ethanolic propolis extracts. Our results suggest that these parameters may play an important role in the preparation, consumption, and standardization of propolis extracts