Characterisation of Malaysian stingless bee propolis and its effects on high-fat diet-induced mice

Propolis contains bioactive compounds that have potential medical uses. Yet, there are still limited studies done, especially on the Malaysian stingless bee propolis. The propolis from the stingless bees (Homotrigona fimbriata, Tetrigona apicalis and Tetrigona binghami) were extracted using two different solvents, ethanol and water. Chemical profiling on concentrations of lipid, carbohydrate, vitamin C, amino acid, flavonoid, phenolic, terpenoid and alkaloid was determined spectrophotometrically, and the highest concentration of compound detected in both types of extracts was lipid. The GC-MS analyses carried out revealed that the propolis water extracts consisted of major groups such as sugar, carboxylic acid, terpenoid, sugar alcohol, hydrocarbon, aldehyde, and amino acid, while the ethanolic extracts were characterized by several major chemical groups such as terpenoids, ketones, carboxylic acids, hydrocarbons, and alkaloids. The antioxidant activities of the extracts were analyzed using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay, while the antibacterial effects of the propolis extracts were done using the dise diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. The data revealed that the Gram-positive bacteria were much more susceptible to the propolis extracts compared to the Gram-negative strains tested. The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) were determined spectrophotometrically and the results showed that overall, H. fimbriata ethanolic extract displayed the highest antioxidant and ACE inhibitory activities, and was chosen for the anti-obesity study on high-fat diet-induced mice. The effect of the extract on the weight of the mice was studied by controlling the diet of the mice. Each group of mice was given normal (ND) and high fed diet (HFD) diets supplemented with 500 mg/kg propolis (ND+P, HFD+P), as well as HFD with 50 mg/kg orlistat (HFD+Or) as control for 4 weeks. The propolis extract was able to prevent excessive weight gain significantly, compared to the ND and HFD groups (p < 0.05) These results may help to provide an insight for a safe, effective alternative to obesity treatment and hopefully, the Malaysian propolis from the local stingless bee industries can be further studied for full utilization.

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