In vitro antimicrobial activity of ethanol extract of bee propolis Scaptotrigona aff. Postica (Latreille, 1807)

Abstract

Native bees are important animals for different areas of study, not only for the peculiarities of their production, but for their examples of ecological organization and for all the other products and byproducts of these activities, with emphasis on the production of propolis and geopropolis, specially worked in meliponiculture, an area of zootechnics dedicated to studying how stingless bees (called meliponins), as well as those native to Brazil. The goal of this work was to evaluate the antibacterial potential of the ethanol extract of propolis (EEP) of native bee Scaptotrigona affinis postica against the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans and Escherichia coli, considering this as a possibility of using an effective natural resource in the control of the discriminated bacteria, as well as the harm associated with their occurrence. The propolis samples were collected in a meliponary located in the city of Barra do Corda/MA, being dissolved 100 g of sample collected in 1000 mL of 70% alcohol to obtain its ethanolic extract, with subsequent evaporation of the solvent. The possible inhibitory action of EEP was evaluated using the Disc Diffusion Agar technique, using the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin (at 60 µg/mL) as an antibacterial standard, with testing the propolis ethanolic extract at concentrations of 0.25 mg/mL , 0.5 mg/ml, 1 mg/ml and 2 mg/ml. Among the six bacterial ATCC's tested, Ciprofloxacino proved to be more efficient compared to Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922). Samples of ethanolic extract of bee propolis Scaptotrigona affinis postica, in all concentrations tested, did not show antimicrobial activity against the tested microorganisms, requiring further studies and characterization.