Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 22 No 5 (2018): 877 - 884

DOI: 10.17576/mjas-2018-2205-15

 

 

 

TOTAL FLAVONOIDS AND PHENOLIC CONTENTS OF STICKY AND HARD PROPOLIS FROM 10 SPECIES OF INDO-MALAYAN STINGLESS BEES

 

(Jumlah Kandungan Flavonoid dan Fenolik dalam Propolis yang Melekit dan Keras daripada 10 Spesis Lebah Kelulut Indo-Malayan)

 

Norafiza Awang¹, Nora’aini Ali¹*, Fadzilah Adibah Abd Majid², Sofiah Hamzah¹, Shamsul Bahri Abd Razak³

 

¹School of Ocean Engineering

²Institute Marine Biotechnology

³School of Food Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author:  noraaini@umt.edu.my

 

 

Received: 16 April 2017; Accepted: 7 March 2018

 

 

Abstract

The present works aimed to identify the total flavonoids content (TFC), total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activities of sticky and hard propolis of 10 species of Indo-Malayan stingless bee’s namely Heterotrigona itama (H. itama), Geniotrigona thoracica (G. thoracica), Homotrigona aliceae (H. aliceae), Homotrigona fimbriata (H. fimbriata), Tetrigona apicalis (T. apicalis), Tetrigona vidua (T. vidua), Tetrigona peninsularis (T. peninsularis), Lophotrigona canifrons (L. canifrons), Tetrigona melanoleuca (T. melanoleuca), and Tetrogona binghami (T. binghami). The ethanolic extracts of these propolis (EEP) were prepared and analysed for the determination of TFC using aluminium chloride method, TPC and antioxidant activity using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical-scavenging assay system. The sticky propolis showed 91% of TFC and 49% of TPC higher than the hard propolis. Interestingly, the sticky propolis had stronger antioxidant activities than hard propolis for all species. The highest antioxidant activities were found in sticky propolis of H. itama which is 85% of DPPH degradation while the lowest antioxidant activity was found in the hard propolis of L. conifrons which is 5% of DPPH degradation. In conclusion, the data gathered in this study revealed that propolis from all 10 types of stingless bees’ species are biologically active. The selection of propolis for further development can be based on its biological activities, which vary according to the species of stingless bees.

 

Keywords:  stingless bees, propolis, total flavonoids content, total phenolic content

 

Abstrak

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti  jumlah kandungan flavonoid, jumlah kandungan fenolik dan aktiviti antioksidan dalam propolis yang melekit dan keras daripada 10 spesis lebah kelulut Indo-Malayan iaitu Heterotrigona itama (H. itama), Geniotrigona thoracica (G. thoracica), Homotrigona aliceae (H. aliceae), Homotrigona fimbriata (H. fimbriata), Tetrigona apicalis (T. apicalis), Tetrigona vidua (T. vidua), Tetrigona peninsularis (T. peninsularis), Lophotrigona canifrons (L. canifrons), Tetrigona melanoleuca (T. melanoleuca), dan Tetrogona binghami (T. binghami). Ekstrak etanolik propolis ini (EEP) telah disediakan dan dianalisis bagi menentukan jumlah kandungan flavonoid (TFC) dengan menggunakan kaedah aluminium klorida, jumlah kandungan fenolik (TPC) dan aktiviti antioksidan menggunakan 1,1-difenil-2-pikrilhidrazil (DPPH) sistem ujian berasaskan radikal bebas. Propolis yang melekit menunjukkan TFC 91% dan TPC 49% lebih tinggi daripada propolis keras. Menariknya, propolis yang melekit mempunyai aktiviti antioksidan yang lebih kuat daripada propolis keras untuk semua spesies. Aktiviti antioksidan tertinggi didapati dalam propolis yang melekat H. itama 85% degradasi DPPH manakala aktiviti antioksidan paling rendah didapati dalam propolis keras L.conifrons 5% degradasi DPPH. Kesimpulannya, data yang dikumpul dalam kajian ini mendedahkan bahawa propolis dari semua 10 jenis lebah adalah spesies biologi aktif. Pemilihan propolis untuk pembangunan selanjutnya boleh berdasarkan aktiviti biologinya, yang bervariasi mengikut spesies lebah tanpa ragu-ragu.

 

Kata kunci:  lebah kelulut, propolis, jumlah kandungan flavonoid, jumlah kandungan fenolik

 

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