Chemical Composition and Evaluation of Antibacterial, Antibiofilm, and Mutagenic Potentials of a Propolis Sample from the Atlantic Forest of Midwest Brazil

Abstract

Sixteen triterpenoids with various skeletal types, five phenylpropanoid derivatives, and two flavonoids were isolated from a propolis sample produced by Apis mellifera collected in the Atlantic Forest of Midwest Brazil. Among these compounds, six triterpenes, namely 3β,20R‐dihydroxylanost‐24‐en‐3‐yl‐palmitate, (23E)‐25‐methoxycycloartan‐23‐en‐3‐one, 24‐methylenecycloartenone, epi‐lupeol, epi‐a‐amyrin, and epi‐β‐amyrin are being reported for the first time in propolis, while cycloartenone, (E)‐cinnamyl benzoate, and (E)‐cinnamyl cinnamate are new findings in Brazilian propolis. The presence of cycloartane‐ and lanostane‐type triterpenoids, the latter being a class of compounds of restricted distribution in propolis worldwide, has not been reported in propolis from Midwest Brazil until now. The ethyl acetate phase obtained from the ethanol extract was effective in preventing biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus, with an inhibition rate of about 96% at 0.5 mg.mL‐1, and with quercetin isolated as one of its active constituents. In contrast, the hexane phase exhibited notable antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, inhibiting bacterial growth by 92% at 0.5 mg.mL‐1; however, none of the triterpenoids isolated from this phase proved active against this pathogen. The ethanol extract was neither toxic nor mutagenic at the concentrations tested, as determined by the in vivo SMART assay on Drosophila melanogaster, even under conditions of high metabolic activation.