PALYNOLOGICAL ORIGIN, PHENOLIC CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF GEOPROPOLIS COLLECTED BY MANDAÇAIA (MELIPONA MANDACAIA) STINGLESS

ABSTRACT The stingless bee Melipona mandacaia (Smith 1863) (mandaçaia) is found only in the region of Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil, in the states of Bahia and Pernambuco, near to São Francisco river. The aim of the present work was to determine the botanical origin and to evaluate the phenolic content and antioxidant properties (β-carotene/linoleic acid system, DPPH and ABTS scavenging) of mandaçaia geopropolis. 25 pollen types from 15 families were identified from the 9 geopropolis samples analyzed. Phenolic compounds content varied between all the geopropolis EtOH extracts, hexane, EtOAc and MeOH:H2O fractions. The main pollens found in the geopropolis samples were from the Leguminoseae family. This identification of meliponicultural plants is extremely important because it indicates the food sources used for the collection of nectar and pollen. Our results revealed that there is a strong relation between the phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity. These results showed that total phenols of mandaçaia geopropolis may be responsible for the antioxidant activity with evidence that it's a rich source of phenols bioactive compounds with potential health benefits.摘要 曼达卡亚无刺蜂（Melipona mandacaia，Smith 1863，俗称mandaçaia）仅分布于巴西东北部卡廷加（Caatinga）地区的巴伊亚州与伯南布哥州，毗邻圣弗朗西斯科河（São Francisco River）。本研究旨在明确曼达卡亚无刺蜂地蜂胶（geopropolis）的植物来源，并测定其酚类物质含量与抗氧化活性，所用方法包括β-胡萝卜素/亚油酸体系法、DPPH自由基清除法及ABTS自由基清除法。本研究对9份地蜂胶样品开展分析，共鉴定出隶属于15个科的25种花粉类型。不同地蜂胶乙醇（EtOH）提取物、正己烷组分、乙酸乙酯（EtOAc）组分及甲醇-水（MeOH:H₂O）混合溶剂组分的酚类物质含量存在差异。样品中检出的优势花粉来源于豆科（Leguminoseae）。对无刺蜂饲用植物的该类鉴定具有重要意义，其可揭示蜜蜂采集花蜜与花粉的食物来源。本研究结果表明，酚类物质与抗氧化活性之间存在显著相关性。上述结果证实，曼达卡亚无刺蜂地蜂胶的总酚类物质是其抗氧化活性的主要来源，同时证明该蜂胶富含具备潜在健康益处的生物活性酚类物质。