In vivo evaluation of mutagenic and recombinagenic activities of Brazilian propolis

Propolis is a resinous, complex mixture of compounds collected by the bee species Apis mellifera. This study investigated the genotoxicity of green and brown propolis collected in southeast Brazil using the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) in Drosophila melanogaster. The effect of five concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 7.5 mg/mL) of both propolis types was analyzed in standard (ST) and high-bioactivation (HB) crosses, which have normal and high levels of cytochrome P450 enzymes, respectively. The results show that the types of propolis evaluated have no mutagenic action, in either cross. Moreover, chromatography findings revealed that the propolis types analyzed have different chemical compositions. Brown propolis had lower levels of polyphenols (∼7.2 mg/mL), compared to the green type (34.9 mg/g). Taken together, the findings of the present study and literature reports point to the safety in consuming low amounts of propolis, considering the risk of genetic damage, and confirm the absence of mutagenic and recombinagenic actions of the propolis types investigated.