Comparison of some biological activities of propolis and bee bread samples obtained from Apis mellifera Anatoliaca and its Muğla and Efe ecotypes

Honey and other bee products have been extensively researched in recent years due to the demand for natural products with nutritional and therapeutic qualities, as they contain high levels of biologically active compounds and valuable nutrients. In this study, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities of bee bread and propolis samples formed after colony development by bees of different races and ecotypes accepted to core colonies in the same location were evaluated. Total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant content values were the the highest in propolis samples, especially in propolis from Apis mellifera anatoliaca. Values of this type gave the most effective results in almost all of the other tests performed, such as DPPH free radical scavenging, lipid peroxidation inhibition, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. In addition, the amount of phenolics detected in the phenolic component analysis of this species is higher. It was surprising that propolis samples obtained from Efe and Muğla ecotypes showed higher values, respectively, in the test for chelating activity with Fe. The fact that the values calculated for the bee breads were lower in all cases compared to the propolis samples, the highest values were calculated for the bee bread harvested from the efe ecotype, in contrast to the propolis ecotypes. None of the tested bee breads showed antimicrobial activity on selected pathogenic bacteria. Thus, with this study, it was evaluated how the differences arising from both race and ecotype and the type of bee product reflected on biological activities.