Qualitative and quantitative investigation of phenolic compounds with beneficial biological properties in Azerbaijan propolis

Propolis is a bee product that honey bees collect and form resins and secretions found in the shoots and cracks of plants and trees. Propolis has been known to humans since ancient times, and due to its rich content and biological properties, it has become widespread in apitherapy, healthy nutrition, food and biocosmetics. It is known that phenolic compounds are the main chemical components of propolis and give propolis biological properties. In addition, the number and amount of phenolic compounds in propolis may vary depending on the regions where they are collected. The aim of this study is to determine the number and amount of phenolic compounds which have beneficial biological properties are known in the content of Azerbaijani propolis and thus to have knowledge about the quality of Azerbaijan propolis. For this purpose, scraped propolis samples collected from 14 different apiaries in 5 provinces in September 2018 of Azerbaijan. 17 different phenolic compounds (gallic acid, epigallocatechin gallate, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, isoferulic acid, methylchiringate, 3,4-dimethoxycinamic acid, quercetin, cinnamic acid, naringenin, apigenin, kaemferol, chrisin, pinosembrin, galangin, caffeic acid phenethyl ester and chalcone) analysis were performed quantitatively and qualitatively using HPLC-DAD system. As a result of the analysis, a total of 17 targeted phenolic compounds were detected at measurable levels in Azerbaijani propolis. Epigallocatechin gallate, caffeic acid, ferulic acid and isoferulic acid from a total of 17 different phenolic compounds were detected in all 14 samples. As a result, the phenolic compound content of Azerbaijan propolis in this study is similar to the structure of European, Asian and North American propolis and confirmed has a certain quality when evaluated in terms of their amounts with analyzed results of other countries.