Honey is the most known among the honeybee products. But apart from honey, there are other bee products that are nutritious and supportive of treatment. Pollen, royal jelly, and propolis are among the bee products that have the highest number of researches made in the last years. However, products such as bee bread (perga) and drone larvae (apilarnil) are very unknown products with little work. Apitherapy; bee and bee products as a method of complementary application in the protection and treatment of certain diseases. However, in order for these applications to be successful, the chemical and biological properties of these products need to be known. For this purpose, the definition, chemical and biological properties and therapeutic activities of bee products are included in this study.

Propolis, bitkilerin tomurcuk ve yaprak kısımlarından toplanan maddelerden bal arıları tarafından üretilen doğal reçineli bir karışımdır. Propolis antikanser, antiinflamator, antibiyotik, antioksidatif, antibakteriyel, antiviral, antifungal, anestetik, immunostimulan ve sitotoksik etkilere sahiptir. Bu derlemede doğal bir ürün olan propolisin fiziksel, kimyasal ve biyolojik özellikleri, bitkisel kaynakları ile balıklarda kullanımı ve uygulama şekiller hakkındaki bilgilerin bir araya getirilmesi amaçlanmıştır.

Distance from the highway to the effect of heavy metal accumulation in bee products in order to investigate in this study; four different apiaries which have four km interval have been established from Tokat-Turhal highway side towards the north. Each station of a total 9 of 36 units bee colonies were placed. Honey, pollen and propolis samples were taken from these colonies in the months of April-July in 2009. The obtained samples (copper, zinc, iron, cadmium, chromium, lead and heavy metals such as manganese) content were investigated. According to the distance from the highway in honey samples averages of zinc, iron, chromium and manganese, there was no statistical difference between averages, while averages of copper, cadmium and lead were found significant differences between the averages. In the pollen samples, averages of zinc, iron, cadmium, chromium and manganese indicated no statistical difference between the averages, while, averages of copper and lead were found to be statistically significant. İn the Propolis samples, averages of copper, zinc, iron, chromium, lead and manganese determined no statistical difference between the averages, significant differences were detected between the averages of cadmium. Cadmium accumulation in the maximum occurs at the edge of the highway, the maximum accumulation of other metals have been seen in other stations When considering, due to traffic only metal cadmium at a level that considered as important in bee products be said to constitute pollution.

Propolis is a special resin and wax material collected from the leaves and shells of trees, buds and shoots of plants by honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). In recent years, many researchers have studied the chemical composition, biological activity and pharmacological properties of propolis. The colour, odour and pharmacological properties of the propolis composition also vary as the composition changes depending on the plant, region, season and bee colony. Flavonoids, aromatic acids, phenolic acids and esters are the main compounds responsible for the biological activity of propolis. A number of studies have been conducted on the use of propolis or its active ingredients in the treatment of cancer. It has been observed that the use of propolis did not cause side effects according to in-vitro and in-vivo studies. Propolis should be extracted with different compounds for use in biological assays. The most commonly used compounds for extraction are ethanol, methanol, oil and water. A number of studies have been carried out showing the antitumor effect of propolis in cell culture and animal tests. The search for new drugs derived from natural products, which may function as chemotherapeutic agents and have low side effects, has increased in recent years. Combination with antioxidant therapy may improve the side effects of chemotherapy on leukocytes, liver and kidney, thus increasing the effect of chemotherapy with dose increase.

Eggs were coated with propolis in order to determine its effect on egg quality and total bacterial count. Effect of storage time prior to propolis coating was also studied. Eggs were obtained from a local farm, coated with 0, 3, 6 or 9% of propolis and stored at 4 ºC with a humidity of 75% for 30 days. A total of 18 eggs were used for egg quality traits and 6 eggs were chosen for microbial activity for each group. Bacteria were recovered with sterile cotton swabs from egg surfaces. Colonies with different morphology and color were detected. 11 bacterial species were determined following the characterization of 14 isolates. Elevated levels of bacterial counts were detected for daily eggs, which were significantly higher than those stored for 30 days. The quality traits of the daily eggs have also been found higher compared with the other groups. It was observed that coating the eggs with varying concentrations of propolis lead to significant differences in the total bacterial counts of the eggshells. Moreover, the egg quality traits which decreased with the increase in storage time have not been further affected with propolis coating.

In this study, effects of propolis on immunological parameters of rainbow trout were investigated. For this purpose, propolis was intraperitoneally injected to fish 4 times at doses of 2.5, 5 and 10 mg / kg fish weight. Blood samples on 3, 9, 15 and 21 days were collected from fish of the control and experimental groups and analysed to determine oxidative radical production [nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) activity], total plasma protein and total immunoglobulin levels. At the end of the experiment, there was a statistically significant increase in oxidative radical production, total protein and immunoglobulin levels of propolis treated groups when compared to the control group.

Honeybee products are rich in phenolic compounds, which effect as natural antioxidants. These compounds may be attached as indicators in studies into the floral and geographical origin of the natural bee products. In this study, we aimed to determine average total antioxidant capacity, average total oxidant capacity and average oxidative stress index of natural bee products obtained from different regions of Turkey. Collected honeybee samples were kept at +4o C until extracted. Natural bee products were extracted with specific methods and antioxidant capacities were defined with in vitro analyses and data were compared. As a result, the highest average total antioxidant capacities were observed in propolis and pollen samples. Total antioxidant capacities of honeybee products collected from various regions demonstrated differences (P

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has been used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, paint, textile, and food industries to coat surfaces and absorb UV rays. As a result of its antimicrobial properties in nanoscale, it may be a promising chemical for decontamination. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are generally considered safe (GRAS) for their stability under challenging processing conditions. Our study investigated the antimicrobial activities of rosmarinic acid and propolis, prepared at different concentrations together with ZnO-NPs. For this purpose, six leading foodborne pathogens and a starter culture were chosen. The invitro decontamination effects of ZnO-NPs, rosmarinic acid, and propolis combinations on selected bacteria in the first 24 hours were demonstrated by bacterial counts at regular intervals. According to our results, propolis and ZnO-NPs showed remarkable results together. In addition, rosmarinic acid’s lower concentrations were also found to induce the decontamination effect of ZnO-NPs. Although the antimicrobial effect of ZnO-NPs, when used alone, was less than when used in combination, it was still found to be sufficient.

The chemical composition of propolis from Aegean Uşak (Balcıdamı and Kaşbelen), Afyon ( Emirdağ and Dinar), Manisa (Salihli and Kula), Denizli (Merkez and Çivril), Muğla (Milas and Merkez), İzmir (Kemalpaşa and Menemen), Aydın (Söke and Kuşadası) and Kütahya (Hisarcık and Tavşanlı) was studied in order to determine the major compounds by using GC-MS. In this study, 8 % ethanol extract of propolis prepared by mixing 920 ml of 70 % ethanol and 80 g of propolis was used. Chemical analysis of propolis extracts indicated that the propolis samples had high concentrations of the aromatic acids, esters and other derivatives which are responsible for the antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties of propolis such as benzyl cinnamate, methyl cinnamate, caffeic acid, cinnamyl cinnamate and cinnamoylglcine besides the most common compounds as fatty acid, terpenoids, esters, alcohols hydrocarbons and aromatic acids. Also, in this research the antifungal effects of 7 concentrations (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 ppm) of propolis ethanol extract (PEE) against Fusarium oxysporum was investigated in vitro conditions. Propolis was mixed alone or in combination with potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium at various concentrations. The results indicated that the mycelial growth of the tested fungi decreased with each increase in PEE concentrations. Propolis extract collected from Muğla province showed 77.81% antifungal effect against Fusarium oxysporum at the highest concentration (50 ppm). The lowest antifungal effect (64.52%) against the pathogen was detected in the propolis extract collected from Denizli province.

Propolis is attracting great interest due to functional effects such as antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer. Therefore, studies about the use of propolis in food products and increasing propolis consumption in human nutrition have increased in recent years. Propolis contains phenolic compounds, essential oils, aromatic acids and waxes which are responsible for biological effects. Many factors such as plant resources, geographical regions and environmental conditions affect the chemical composition of propolis. Propolis enrichment in food products to improve the nutritional value, quality and functionality of food have been investigated in many studies. Furthermore, it was reported that propolis can meet the demand of consumers about the use of natural food additive in food manufacturing. The aim of the present study was to introduce the physicochemical composition and biological activity of propolis and review the studies about its applications in food products.