Green propolis, a specialty from Brazil

07/12/2021

Brasil produces around 12 different types of propolis, but the most prominent is the green propolis, which has been considered of great value for health treatments.

During the pollination process, bees find several substances to work in their hives. However, green propolis can only be obtained from wild rosemary or Baccharis dracunculifolia, a plant native to Brazil. Propolis is a natural antibiotic that provides many other beneficial properties, being used as antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, anesthetic, and immuno-stimulant.

José Alexandre Silva de Abreu, the founder of Pharma Nectar, a company specialized in bee products, is a green propolis enthusiast. “Our product has achieved the same international status as the Manuka honey. It is widely recognized as the best in the market and accredited by many scientific studies.”

Research
Scientific databases have over 200 articles dedicated to green propolis and more than 2 thousand citations on books, news articles, conferences, and similar materials. The efficiency of green propolis on cancer patients has been the focus of several recent studies. The main substance in it, responsible for the benefits in cancer prevention and treatments, is called artepellin C.

According to researchers, in addition to its antibacterial properties, artepellin C helps to inhibit the growth of tumor cells and increase the total number of lymphocytes, indicating an activation of the immune system.

A study from the Federal University of Ouro Preto shows that patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy can have an improvement in life quality and an increase in their survival rate from 12 months to three years, in addition to the stabilization of tumor progression.

Award
After finding out the benefits of green propolis preventing dental and oral problems, the University of Minas Gerais and Pharma Nectar invested in ways to prevent and treat mucositis and candidosis, two adverse effects of radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Together they developed a line of oral green propolis gel at high concentration. The initiative was awarded by the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (APEX) an Excellence in Exportation prize, in the micro and small business category.

“I’ve worked with bee products for almost 30 years and I can say that there’s no limit to the potential of green propolis,“ says Silva de Abreu. “It has uncountable benefits for users and high added-value in the market, which is very attractive to producers,“ he adds.