Antioxidant Activity of Indian Propolis - An In Vitro Evaluation

Antioxidants from the natural products are essential to prevent the progression of free radical mediated diseases. In the present study, ethanol extract of propolis collected from different geographical origin were evaluated for their free radical scavenging potential by employing different in-vitro assays such as DPPH, ABTS, Nitric oxide and Hydrogen peroxide. All the tested samples contained considerable amount of total phenols and vitamin C content. In the entire assay, the percentage of inhibition increased with the increase in concentration. Among the propolis samples collected, the highest activity was found in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Haryana. The difference in the antioxidant activity level was obtained from the assay may reflect a relative difference in the ability of antioxidant compounds to scavenge different free radicals in the extract. Phenols and vitamin C are the major contributors to antioxidant activity in propolis. The propolis from these locations may be of considerable interest in preventing the ill effects of excessive free radical generation in the human body.