ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF PROPOLIS PRODUCED BY Frieseomelitta varia

To contribute to the development of antibacterial products from propolis produced by native Brazilian bees, twenty-nine samples of propolis collected from hives in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were screened for in vitro activity against Aeromonas hydrophila, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Among the samples from native Brazilian bees, only that from Frieseomelitta varia (Lepeletier, 1836) inhibited in vitro bacterial growth. Consequently, this propolis underwent fractionation by chromatographic methods monitored through Agar-diffusion assays with these bacteria, which resulted in the isolation and identification of 3,5-diprenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (artepillin C), which showed MIC of 62.5 and 250 mu g/mL against B. subtilis and S. aureus, respectively. This result indicates the potential of F. varia to produce therapeutic propolis.