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Plants: Sources of Diversity in Propolis and Honey Properties
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Plants: Sources of Diversity in Propolis and Honey Properties

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2023) | Viewed by 6230

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Otilia Bobis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Life Science Institute “King Michael I of Romania”, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj, Manastur st. 3-5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: food chemistry; bee products; plant extracts; isolation and characterization of plant extracts; chromatography; spectrometry; in vitro evaluations of biological activity of bee products (honey, propolis, bee pollen, royal jelly); foods and plant extracts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are the main food source for bees. The insects also pollinate the plants, which are reliant on them for fertilization. Social insects such as honeybees (Apis mellifera) depend on the plant source for producing some of their products. Bee products are divided in two major classes: those that need raw materials outside the hive (nectar, pollen, resins), which the bees mix with their own substances to produce honey, propolis or bee pollen, and those that are entirely products of bee secretions (royal jelly, wax, bee venom). Propolis is produced by honeybees by mixing different plant resins with their own substances, including wax produced by their glands. Further, tree buds, sap flows, leaves, branches, and barks of plants are used by bees to produce propolis. Propolis is a very complex matrix, consisting mainly of resins and volatiles from plants and beeswax. The high content of secondary metabolites from plants determines the biological activity of propolis. Honey is produced by bees from plant nectars or other sweet substances which the bees collect and transform, by adding their own substances and depositing them in the hive for maturation. Floral honey has as its main raw material the nectar produced by the nectary glands of flowers, and honeydew honey comes from the sweet substances collected by bees from the leaves of tree branches, or directly from plant sap. The nutritional value as well as the biological activity of honey are directly connected to the plant source of the nectar and implicitly by the secondary metabolites contained. Honey and propolis are important products depending greatly on plant biodiversity. Following the success of the first volume of the Special Issue of Plants on “Plants: Source of Diversity in Propolis Properties”, in which nine papers were published, all with a considerable number of citations and one of them being a highly cited paper in the field, we have decided to launch the second volume of this Special issue. This time, we will enlarge the scope of the issue with another important bee product—honey—which we believe will add more value to the topic. Studies on the plant origin of honey and propolis are encouraged, as are review articles on the botanical origin of different honey and propolis types.  

For this Special Issue, we invite investigators and scholars to submit original articles, review articles, and short communications on the mentioned topics: monofloral, multifloral, and honeydew honey, chemical composition of honey and propolis, bioactivity of honey and propolis, and most of all, applications connected to plant source and geographical origin.

Dr. Otilia Bobis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • honey
  • propolis
  • related plants
  • chemical composition
  • bioactive constituents
  • in vitro activity
  • in vivo activity
  • apitherapy
  • apiphytotherapy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 1548 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Main Macro-, Micro- and Trace Elements Found in Fallopia japonica Plants and Their Traceability in Its Honey: A Case Study from the Northwestern and Western Part of Romania
by Alexandra-Antonia Cucu, Claudia Pașca, Alexandru-Bogdan Cucu, Adela Ramona Moise, Otilia Bobiş, Ștefan Dezsi, Anamaria Blaga Petrean and Daniel Severus Dezmirean
Plants 2024, 13(3), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13030428 - 31 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1203
Abstract
Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed, Reynoutria japonica or Polygonum cuspidatum) is considered an extremely invasive plant worldwide and a bioindicator of heavy metals. Yet, its potential as a crop for honeybees is still underevaluated. This study employs atomic absorption spectrometry to quantitatively analyze the [...] Read more.
Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed, Reynoutria japonica or Polygonum cuspidatum) is considered an extremely invasive plant worldwide and a bioindicator of heavy metals. Yet, its potential as a crop for honeybees is still underevaluated. This study employs atomic absorption spectrometry to quantitatively analyze the concentration of macro-elements, namely, calcium (Ca), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg); micro-elements, such as copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and selenium (Se); and trace elements, i.e., cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) in different anatomic parts of Fallopia japonica (FJ) plants (roots, rhizomes, stems, leaves) and their traceability into honey. This research encompasses a thorough examination of samples collected from the northwestern and western part of Romania, providing insights into their elemental composition. The results showed that the level of trace elements decreases in terms of traceability in honey samples (Pb was not detected in any of the analyzed samples, while Cd had a minimum content 0.001 mg/kg), ensuring its quality and health safety for consumption. Moreover, the data generated can function as a valuable resource to explore the plant’s positive eco-friendly impacts, particularly in relation to its honey. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plants: Sources of Diversity in Propolis and Honey Properties)
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26 pages, 1264 KiB  
Article
Plant Species as Potential Forage for Honey Bees in the Al-Baha Mountain Region in Southwestern Saudi Arabia
by Ahmad A. Al-Ghamdi and Nageeb A. Al-Sagheer
Plants 2023, 12(6), 1402; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12061402 - 22 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2105
Abstract
The contribution of bee forages in the form of nectar, pollen, and propolis to beekeeping development depends on plant species diversity. The data concerning the increase in honey production in southwestern Saudi Arabia, which was unexpected with the deterioration of the vegetation cover, [...] Read more.
The contribution of bee forages in the form of nectar, pollen, and propolis to beekeeping development depends on plant species diversity. The data concerning the increase in honey production in southwestern Saudi Arabia, which was unexpected with the deterioration of the vegetation cover, becomes a concrete background for this study, which planned to list the bee plant species contributing as sources of nectar, pollen, and propolis. The sampling method followed a purposive random sampling approach, and 20 × 20 m plots were considered with a total of 450 sample plots. Bee forage plants were identified based on flower morphology and honey bees’ actions during floral visits at active foraging hours. A checklist of bee forages containing 268 plants species belonging to 62 families was documented. The number of pollen source plants (122) was more than nectar (92) and propolis (10) source plants. Regarding seasonal distribution, spring and winter were relatively good seasons for honey bees in terms of pollen, nectar, and propolis availability. Generally, this study is an essential step towards understanding, conserving, and rehabilitating plant species providing nectar, forage, and propolis to honey bees in Al-Baha Region of Saudi Arabia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plants: Sources of Diversity in Propolis and Honey Properties)
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14 pages, 1598 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Chemical Composition, Sun Protection Factor and Antioxidant Activity of Lithuanian Propolis and Its Plant Precursors
by Monika Stanciauskaite, Mindaugas Marksa, Laura Rimkiene and Kristina Ramanauskiene
Plants 2022, 11(24), 3558; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11243558 - 16 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2350
Abstract
The growing interest in polyphenols of natural origin and their plant sources encourages the study of their chemical composition and biological activity. Propolis is widely used as a source of phenolic compounds. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the [...] Read more.
The growing interest in polyphenols of natural origin and their plant sources encourages the study of their chemical composition and biological activity. Propolis is widely used as a source of phenolic compounds. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the chemical composition, antioxidant activity and sun protection factor (SPF) of the ethanolic extracts of the poplar buds, birch buds and pine buds of propolis plant precursors collected in Lithuania. The IC50 concentration of the extracts was evaluated using DPPH and ABTS methods. Extracts of poplar buds, birch buds and propolis showed a lower IC50 concentration by ABTS and DPPH methods compared with pine buds extracts. Poplar buds and propolis extracts showed the highest SPF value, while birch and pine buds extracts showed a lower SPF value. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis results showed that phenolic acids, such as p-coumaric acid and cinnamic acid, and flavonoids, such as pinobanksin and pinocembrin, were identified in all the tested extracts. Salicin has been identified only in poplar buds extracts. The results of antioxidant activity showed that propolis poplar and birch buds are a promising source of biologically active polyphenols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plants: Sources of Diversity in Propolis and Honey Properties)
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