Propolis, a resinous substance produced by honeybees from various plant sources, has been used for thousands of years in traditional medicine for several purposes all over the world. The precise composition of propolis varies according to plant source, seasons harvesting, geography, type of bee flora, climate changes, and honeybee species at the site of collection. This apiary product has broad clinical applications such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, analgesic, antidepressant, and anxiolytic as well asimmunomodulatory effects. It is also well known from traditional uses in treating purulent disorders, improving the wound healing, and alleviating many of the related discomforts. Even if its use was already widespread since ancient times, after the First and Second World War, it has grown even more as well as the studies to identify its chemical and pharmacological features, allowing to discriminate the qualities of propolis in terms of the chemical profile and relative biological activity based on the geographic place of origin. Recently, several in vitro and in vivo studies have been carried out and new insights into the pharmaceutical prospects of this bee product in the management of different disorders, have been highlighted. Specifically, the available literature confirms the efficacy of propolis and its bioactive compounds in the reduction of cancer progression, inhibition of bacterial and viral infections as well as mitigation of parasitic-related symptoms, paving the way to the use of propolis as an alternative approach to improve the human health. However, a more conscious use of propolis in terms of standardized extracts as well as new clinical studies are needed to substantiate these health claims.

1. Two routes of probiotic administration in broiler farms, in water and in feed, were compared using 360 one-day-old male broiler chickens. Controls received no probiotics or antimicrobials. The water group received a probiotic preparation at a rate of 0.5 g/l, and the feed group received it at an inclusion rate of 1 g/kg. 2. Performance of broilers in terms body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved when probiotic was provided via drinking water, compared to the control and feed groups. Probiotic administration reduced plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. 3. Spleen (28 and 42 d) and bursa (42 d) relative weights were influenced by method of probiotic administration, which also improved T-cell dependent skin thickness response to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) injection. The effect of challenge by dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) depended on the method of probiotic administration. 4. The method of probiotic administration can influence the performance and immune competence of birds, and administration via drinking water appears to be superior to the more conventional in-feed supplementation method.

In an attempt to develop a probiotic formulation for poultry feed, a number of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from chicken intestinal specimens and a series of in vitro experiments were performed to evaluate their efficacy as a potential probiotic candidate. A total of 650 LAB strains were isolated and screened for their antagonistic potential against each other. Among all the isolates only three isolates (TMU121, 094 and 457) demonstrated a wide spectrum of inhibition and were thus selected for detailed investigations. All three selected isolates were able to inhibit the growth of E. coli and Salmonella species, although to variable extent. The nature of the inhibitory substance produced by the isolates TMU121 and 094 appeared to be associated with bacteriocin, as their activity was completely lost after treatment with proteolytic enzymes, while pH neutralization and catalase enzyme had no effect on the residual activity. In contrast, isolate TMU457 was able to resist the effect of proteolytic enzymes while pH neutralization completely destroyed its activity. Attempts were made to study the acid, bile tolerance and cell surface hydrophobicity of these isolates. TMU121 showed high bile salt tolerance (0.3%) and high cell surface hydrophobicity compared to the other two strains studied, while TMU094 appeared the most pH resistant strain. Based on these results, the three selected LAB isolates were considered as potential ingredients for a chicken probiotic feed formulation and were identified to species level based on their carbohydrate fermentation pattern by using API 50CH test kits. The three strains were identified as Lactobacillus fermentum TMU121, Lactobacillus rhamnosus TMU094, and Pediococcus pentosaceous TMU457.

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