Organic Tracers from Asphalt in Propolis Produced by Urban Honey Bees, Apis mellifera Linn.

ABSTRACT: Propolis is a gummy material produced by honey bees to protect their hives and currently has drawn the attention of researchers due to its broad clinical use. It has been reported, based only on observations, that honey bees also collect other non-vegetation substances such as paint or asphalt/tar to make propolis. Therefore, propolis samples were collected from bee hives in Riyadh and Al-Bahah, a natural area, Saudi Arabia to determine their compositional characteristics and possible sources of the neutral organic compounds. The samples were extracted with hexane and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that the major compounds were n-alkanes, n-alkenes, methyl n-alkanoates, long chain wax esters, triterpenoids and hopanes. The n-alkanes (ranging from C17 t

SUBMITTER: Alqarni AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4468070 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature