Abstract
Propolis (bee glue) is a natural substance produced by bees upon collection of mainly plant resins. Bees use it as antiseptic sealing agent between honeycombs and to preserve the hive from external contamination. Numerous scientific studies have been published on the biological properties of propolis including its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, immunostimulant, antitumour and antimicrobial activity. Different propolis chemotypes have been characterised based on the nature of the plant-derived substances present and the geographical origin of collection. Here, we describe the isolation of nine triterpenes from a sample of propolis originating from North-Western Cameroon. All compounds were identified following analysis of their spectroscopic data and comparison with previously published reports.
Materials and Reagents
Equipment
Software
Procedure
Representative data
Figure 1. Typical set up for liquid-liquid partition using a separating funnel Figure 2. Typical set up for vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) A B C D Figure 3. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis. A. Spotting of sample on TLC plate; B. Spotted plate placed in the TLC tank for elution; C. Heating of plate; D. Calculation of Rf values for triterpene (pink) spots. Figure 4. Typical set up for column chromatography
Notes
Recipes
Acknowledgments
This protocol was adapted from the previously published study, Kardar et al. (2014). This work was supported by the Leverhulme Trust, UK (Research Project Grant RPG-150). We thank T. Zhang for technical assistance and Nature’s Laboratory Ltd for the supply of propolis.
References
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Hi Shabana,You need to place the aqueous phase back in the funnel (after you have used hexane) and add ethyl acetate to the aqueous phase.Regards, Dr Seidel