Various Aspects of Antimicrobial Properties of Populus Propolis
- 1Department of Pharmacognosy and Herbal Medicines, Wroclaw Medical University, 211A Borowska Street, 50-556 Wrocław, Poland
- 2Department of Pharmacognosy with Medicinal Plant Garden, Medical University in Lublin, 1 Chodźki Street, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
- 3Laboratory of Tissue Culture, Botanical Garden, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, 23 Sienkiewicza Street, 50-234 Wrocław, Poland
Abstract
Propolis is a bee product which is composed of plant resins and bee glue. In temperate climatic zones, the main sources of resins are buds of different species of the Populus genus. Propolis is known to have multiple medicinal properties, especially antimicrobial (including antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains), anti-inflammatory, and wound treatment properties. Due to growing antibiotic resistance, new antibacterial agents and therapies solutions are still needed. For this reason, this article summarizes the results of research related to the antibacterial activity of Populus genus propolis. We discuss the main types of Populus genus propolis (aspen, aspen–poplar and poplar), propolis’s general effect against different bacterial strains, the classes of antibacterial agents, the mechanism of antibacterial action of propolis, and interactions of propolis with antibiotics. Our analysis of the literature reveals that Populus propolis is a valuable antibacterial agent. However, its activity varies due to the instability of its composition. Therefore, before it can be designated for medicinal use biological and phytochemical standardization is required. Clinical data reveal the efficiency of propolis preparations in mild external infectious diseases in oral cavity and wound treatment. These data are limited only to poplar propolis. Similar efficiency may be possible using aspen and aspen–poplar propolis, but there is no direct clinical data to support this assertion. Combined therapy using propolis with antibiotics remained controversial due to the lack of sufficient clinical data and unclear data from in vitro research. Administering Populus propolis preparations to treat internal bacterial diseases requires further clinical research and should not be a standard therapy at this moment.
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BibTeX
@article{okinczyc2026various,
title = {{Various Aspects of Antimicrobial Properties of Populus Propolis}},
author = {Piotr Okińczyc and Jarosław Widelski and Jakub Szperlik and Zbigniew Sroka},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27219718},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9718},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Various Aspects of Antimicrobial Properties of Populus Propolis
AU - Piotr Okińczyc
AU - Jarosław Widelski
AU - Jakub Szperlik
AU - Zbigniew Sroka
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27219718
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9718
AB - Propolis is a bee product which is composed of plant resins and bee glue. In temperate climatic zones, the main sources of resins are buds of different species of the Populus genus. Propolis is known to have multiple medicinal properties, especially antimicrobial (including antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains), anti-inflammatory, and wound treatment properties. Due to growing antibiotic resistance, new antibacterial agents and therapies solutions are still needed. For this reason, this article summarizes the results of research related to the antibacterial activity of Populus genus propolis. We discuss the main types of Populus genus propolis (aspen, aspen–poplar and poplar), propolis’s general effect against different bacterial strains, the classes of antibacterial agents, the mechanism of antibacterial action of propolis, and interactions of propolis with antibiotics. Our analysis of the literature reveals that Populus propolis is a valuable antibacterial agent. However, its activity varies due to the instability of its composition. Therefore, before it can be designated for medicinal use biological and phytochemical standardization is required. Clinical data reveal the efficiency of propolis preparations in mild external infectious diseases in oral cavity and wound treatment. These data are limited only to poplar propolis. Similar efficiency may be possible using aspen and aspen–poplar propolis, but there is no direct clinical data to support this assertion. Combined therapy using propolis with antibiotics remained controversial due to the lack of sufficient clinical data and unclear data from in vitro research. Administering Populus propolis preparations to treat internal bacterial diseases requires further clinical research and should not be a standard therapy at this moment.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -