Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Apimedica 2012: New Technique for Detecting Counterfeit Propolis



Development and Validation of HPLC Method for Determination of Salicin in Poplar Buds: Application for Screening of Counterfeit Propolis
Oct. 22-25, 2012 
Zhenjiang, China
The main plant origins of propolis are the populus species and their hybrids, both located in China. Poplar tree gum, the extract of populus buds, has been widely used as counterfeit propolis, but no effective method was known for detecting the counterfeit.
Salicin is a characteristic marker of the genus populus, which may be hydrolyzed by beta-glucosidase during propolis collection and processing. A simple, sensitive and specific reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed and validated for the rapid assay of salicin, which was aimed at distinguishing poplar tree gum from propolis.
Following this method, salicin was detected in populus buds, leaves and 11 poplar tree gum samples, but not in any of the 40 propolis samples, which indicated that salicin was hydrolyzed in propolis collection and processing, but was stable in the production process of poplar tree gum.
The proposed method could be an effective technique for routine analysis of salicin and monitoring the quality of propolis.
For information, contact: HU Fu-Liang, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China E-mail: flhu@zju.edu.cn

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