a Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment , University of Pisa , via del Borghetto 80, I-56124 Pisa , Italy.
Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2014;31(12):2022-5. doi: 10.1080/19440049.2014.980854. Epub 2014 Nov 17.
Propolis is a resinous material collected by honeybees from the exudates and buds of plants. It has been widely used as a remedy by humans since ancient times, as well as for dietary supplements and cosmetics. European legislation recently focused on the quality and hygiene standards of foods, including beehive products, and extensive efforts have been made to avoid the presence of chemical contaminants, whilst in contrast few studies have investigated the magnitude of contamination by physical ones. We conducted a filth-test survey to evaluate the contamination of ethanolic extract of propolis by foreign materials. We also compared the abundance of contaminants in propolis extracts currently marketed by small beekeepers and industrial producers. We found different foreign materials in the ethanol extract of propolis. Contaminants differed in abundance, with a higher number of carbon particles (small beekeepers: 2.70 ± 0.63; industrial producers: 1.25 ± 0.49; mean (n/30 ml) ± SE) and other inorganic fragments (small beekeepers: 3.50 ± 0.31; industrial producers: 3.88 ± 1.11) than arthropod fragments (small beekeepers: 0.30 ± 0.21; industrial producers: 0.38 ± 0.26) and mammal hairs (small beekeepers: 0.10 ± 0.10; industrial producers: 0.38 ± 0.26). No differences in the abundance of foreign matter between propolis from small beekeepers and industrial producers were found, allowing us to point out an increased awareness by small producers of issues inherent in hygiene management. Contamination of propolis extracts by animal body parts, such as insect fragments, mites and rodent hairs, indicates poor management of hygiene in the production process and low effectiveness of the filtration phase. Animal-borne contaminants can act as pathogen vectors as well as introducing dangerous allergens when ingested or applied to human skin. The filth-test applied to ethanolic propolis extract quality control can be considered a promising tool, also for small beekeeper activities, since it is cheap and allows the quick interpretation of results.
蜂胶是蜜蜂从植物的渗出物和芽中采集的树脂状物质。自古以来，它一直被人类广泛用作药物，也被用作膳食补充剂和化妆品。欧洲法规最近关注食品的质量和卫生标准，包括蜂产品，并做出了广泛的努力来避免化学污染物的存在，而相比之下，很少有研究调查物理污染物的污染程度。我们进行了污垢测试调查，以评估蜂胶乙醇提取物中外来物质的污染情况。我们还比较了小型养蜂人和工业生产者目前销售的蜂胶提取物中污染物的丰度。我们在蜂胶的乙醇提取物中发现了不同的外来物质。污染物的丰度不同，碳颗粒的数量更多（小型养蜂人：2.70 ± 0.63；工业生产者：1.25 ± 0.49；平均值（n/30ml）±SE）和其他无机碎片（小型养蜂人：3.50 ± 0.31；工业生产者：3.88 ± 1.11）比节肢动物碎片（小型养蜂人：0.30 ± 0.21；工业生产者：0.38 ± 0.26）和哺乳动物毛发（小型养蜂人：0.10 ± 0.10；工业生产者：0.38 ± 0.26）。小型养蜂人和工业生产者的蜂胶中外来物质的丰度没有差异，这表明小型生产者对卫生管理中固有的问题有了更高的认识。蜂胶提取物中动物身体部位的污染，如昆虫碎片、螨虫和啮齿动物毛发，表明生产过程中的卫生管理不善，过滤阶段的效果不佳。动物携带的污染物可以作为病原体的载体，同时在摄入或应用于人体皮肤时也会引入危险的过敏原。应用于蜂胶乙醇提取物质量控制的污垢测试可以被认为是一种有前途的工具，对于小型养蜂业也同样如此，因为它便宜且允许快速解释结果。
