Czech J. Food Sci., 2023, 41(2):144-154 | DOI: 10.17221/100/2022-CJFS

Chemical composition, antimicrobial activities, and molecular docking studies of Turkish propolis ethanol extractOriginal Paper

Gokben Ozbey^1,, Mustafa Necati Muz^2,, Elif Seren Tanriverdi^3,, Sultan Erkan^4,, Niyazi Bulut^5,, Baris Otlu^3,, František Zigo^6*

¹ Department of Medical Services and Techniques, Vocational School of Health Services, Firat University, Elazig, Türkiye

² Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Namik Kemal University, Tekirdağ, Türkiye

³ Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, İnönü University, Malatya, Türkiye

⁴ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Türkiye

⁵ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Firat University, Elazig, Türkiye

⁶ Department of Nutrition and Animal Husbandry, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Košice, Slovakia

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the antimicrobial effect of propolis ethanol extract collected from the Tarsus district of Mersin province, Kilis province, Yayladagi district of Hatay province in southern Türkiye and Sarkoy district of Tekirdag province of northwestern Türkiye against Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Helicobacter pylori (ATCC 43504), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213). Their chemical constituents were detected via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). They were used in a molecular docking approach to search the interactions between the propolis compounds. A total of 24 phenolic compounds were detected in all samples. 3–4 dimethoxycinnamic acid, caffeic acid and genistein were indicated to be the predominant phenolic compounds in propolis extracts by LC-MS/MS, while rutin was found in the lowest concentration. Phenolic compounds were detected in a high concentration of the propolis samples collected from the Tarsus district of Mersin province. The broth microdilution method determined minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) values. MIC values ranged from 0.02 to 14 mg·mL^–1. E. coli and S. aureus examined were as susceptible to the propolis extracts except for Mersin and Tekirdag propolis samples. The propolis sample collected from the Tarsus district of Mersin province presented the highest antibacterial activity on P. aeruginosa with MIC values of 1 mg·mL^–1. Active substances in propolis were docked to the relevant target proteins (5LMM, 4NX9, 5YHG, and 5FXT) representing E. coli (ATCC 25922), H. pylori (ATCC 43504), P. aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and S. aureus (ATCC 29213), and with the help of molecular simulation. With this study, we indicated that the ethanol extract of propolis had a stronger antibacterial activity on S. aureus isolates than that of E. coli, H. pylori, and P. aeruginosa. Although each component of propolis contributed to the antibacterial activity, the contribution of the vitexin component to the antibacterial activity was found to be quite significant.

Keywords: Keywords: antimicrobial effect; minimum inhibition concentration (MIC); phenolic compounds; vitexin; liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, mass spectrometry (LC-MS, MS)

Accepted: April 18, 2023; Published: April 27, 2023  Show citation