ECAM Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1741-4288 1741-427X Hindawi Publishing Corporation 10.1155/2015/587383 587383 Research Article Inhibitory Properties of Aqueous Ethanol Extracts of Propolis on Alpha-Glucosidase Zhang Hongcheng 460414874@qq.com 1,2 Wang Guangxin wangguangxin052@126.com 1 Beta Trust trust_beta@umanitoba.caitoba.ca 3 Dong Jie jiedon@126.com 1,2 Nascimento Flávia R. F. do 1 Bee Research Institute Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing 100093 China caas.net.cn 2 National Research Center of Bee Product Processing Ministry of Agriculture Beijing 100093 China agri.gov.cn 3 Department of Food Science University of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB Canada R3T 2N2 umanitoba.ca 2015 12 2 2015 2015 04 09 2014 15 12 2014 18 12 2014 12 2 2015 2015 Copyright © 2015 Hongcheng Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the inhibitory properties of various extracts of propolis on alpha-glucosidase from baker’s yeast and mammalian intestine. Inhibitory activities of aqueous ethanol extracts of propolis were determined by using 4-nitrophenyl-D-glucopyranoside, sucrose and maltose as substrates, and acarbose as a positive reference. All extracts were significantly effective in inhibiting α-glucosidase from baker’s yeast and rat intestinal sucrase in comparison with acarbose ( P < 0.05 ). The 75% ethanol extracts of propolis (75% EEP) showed the highest inhibitory effect on α-glucosidase and sucrase and were a noncompetitive inhibition mode. 50% EEP, 95%, EEP and 100% EEP exhibited a mixed inhibition mode, while water extracts of propolis (WEP) and 25% EEP demonstrated a competitive inhibition mode. Furthermore, WEP presented the highest inhibitory activity against maltase. These results suggest that aqueous ethanol extracts of propolis may be used as nutraceuticals for the regulation of postprandial hyperglycemia.

http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002855 Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China 2011BAD33B04