A comparative study on antioxidant activity of propolis ethanolic extract and oil from different agroclimatic regions of Eastern India

Propolis is a honey bee product with a rich source of natural antioxidants due to its flavonoids and phenolic acids. Propolis has broad biological effects such as dysentery, eye diseases, wound healing, fever, ulcer, skin rashes, scorpion stings, oral infections, diarrhea, liver disorders, etc., and has been used as folk medicine since ancient times. The primary objective of this study was to determine the antioxidant potency of propolis oils from various agroclimatic regions. The in vitroantioxidant activity of different agroclimatic regions of propolis oils and the ethanolic extracts were studied using DPPH, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, and ABTS assay. This research found that propolis oil from South Eastern Ghat had a higher antioxidant activity with IC50 values for DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radicals were 120.74 ± 2.83, 15.24 ± 0.74, and 34.30 ± 1.95 μg/mL, respectively. While propolis ethanolic extract from North Eastern Coastal Plain showed a higher radical scavenging effect with IC50 values for DPPH, nitric oxide, and hydroxyl radical were 123.12 ± 3.10, 28.07 ± 0.67, and 26.24 ± 0.79 μg/mL, respectively. According to the findings, the ABTS assay revealed more potent antioxidant activity in propolis than other methods. As a result, it was found that propolis oil has the highest antioxidant activity than the propolis ethanolic extract, and it can be used as a potent natural antioxidant source. •Different in vitro techniques, including the DPPH, nitric oxide, hydroxyl radical, and ABTS for free radical scavenging test were used to measure the antioxidant activity of Propolis Ethanolic extract and oil.•This study found that Propolis oil has the highest antioxidant activity than the Propolis ethanolic extract.•The antioxidants produced from Propolis oil are less expensive and safer than synthetic drugs. So, it would be an excellent therapeutic drug in the biomedical field.