In the same way that mammals protect their offspring with colostrum, bees rely on propolis; a substance that helps them defend the hive from possible external hazards. If you want to know more about this interesting product, don´t miss this article!
Propolis is one of the most interesting products that we can find in a hive. References to its antioxidant power date back to the year 1881, at the height of the Boer War, where Dutch farmers mixed propolis with fat to heal and disinfect their wounds.
As for its production, more than 5o years of evolution have made the bees perfect their way of obtaining it. Propolis is the result of mixing beeswax with a part of bud-protective resins produced by some trees. These buds are coated with resins containing great antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral power in order to guarantee that the new branches and flowers of the tree grow healthy and strong.
In this way, bees collect the resin and transport it to their hive in a small basket located on their third pair of legs to later use it for different purposes, such as varnishing the inside of the hive, or mixing the resin with wax and using it to close the cracks which they cannot pass through.
In LAPUELA Honey we have no doubt that it is a fascinating substance. If we look at its composition, propolis is made up of 50% balsamic phenolic compounds or flavonoids among others-, 30% beeswax, 5% and 2% mineral salts and 2% essential oils. Although this combination can be varied and fundamentally depends on the plants that provide the resins.
Properties and current use
Being a substance with multiple beneficial health properties, nowadays it is used as a main ingredient in various products such as medicinal syrups, creams and ointments. You can find it in pharmacies and drugstores in a multitude of formulas for skin damage such as spots, eczema or wounds, as well as for treating sore throats or improving the immune system.
Human beings have not let these various properties go unnoticed; there are many articles, such as: Joanna Kocot’s et al. published in 2018, Antioxidant Potential of Propolis, Bee Pollen and Royal Jelly: Possible Medical Application, the Swiss Dr. Bogdanov in the review in 2017 in The propolis book or Dr. Mª Teresa Sancho et al. in 2020 Phenolic profile propolis, antioxidant capacity and inhibitory enzymatic capacity, they have all studied its properties and discovered the power of its components. Thus, it is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anaesthetic, bacterial, fungal and viral disinfectant, hepatoprotective and immunostimulant product, due to its high content in phenolic compounds and flavonoids.
Therefore, it is a very interesting substance to include in our diet and one from which we can obtain great benefits.
