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ANALYSIS OF VOLATILECOMPOUNDS OF PROPOLIS

Boris Ševarika

Street of 29. November 23, Belgrade

INTRODUCTION REFERENCES

Propolis is made from herbal polyphenolic resin [1] Park, Y.K.; Alencar, S.M.;
and waxes. It is used for filling cracks in the hive, as well as
mummifying dead insects and rodents. Propolis helps Aguiar, C.L. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2002.
regulating air quality in the beehive. Moreover, propolis is
widely used in alternative medicine, especially in [2]Marcucci, M.C. Apidologie
aromatherapy. 1995.

The aim of this research is analysis of the volatile
components (volatile oils) in propolis.

METHODS

Five samples have been analyzed by the head-
space method, for sample preparation, and gas
chromatography with mass and flame ionization detector
for separation, detection and quantification of the
components. One specimen has been processed by organic
dissolvent steam distillation of essential oils. The main
advantage of the head-space technique is the absence of the
organic solvent which tends to conceal signals of volatile
compounds on the chromatograph.

RESULTS

Although a variety of compounds in every sample
has been detected, most of the compounds are present in
traces. Mainly, found compounds were alcohols, terpenes,
cyclic aldehydes, ketones and acids.

CONCLUSION

It can be induced that analyzed samples have
similar qualitative but different quantitative composition.
Results also indicate that for a more thorough research it is
crucial to include larger number of samples from diverse
regions.