Chemical composition of Egyptian and UAE propolis.

The chemical composition of propolis samples obtained from Behera, Egypt and Dubai, UAE, have been investigated by GC-MS and thirty four compounds have been tentatively identified. Some of these compounds have not been reported previously in Egyptian propolis from different regions. The Egyptian sample contains a high amount of aliphatic (13.7%) and aromatic (14.4%) acids. The alcohols, phenols and esters account for about 17.0% of the total content analysed. Some anthraquinone and flavone derivatives have also been detected (10%). The UAE sample is characterised by the presence of a high content of aliphatic acids (15.2%) and a low content of aromatic acids (4.3%). The aldehydes, alcohols, phenols and esters amount to about 9%. In addition to these some other compounds (high molecular weight alkanes, sugar derivatives, anthraquinone derivatives and flavone derivatives) are also present to the extent of about 33%.