Propolis May be Used as a Food Preservative

Propolis to Make Jump from Health to Food Preservative?
By Stephen Daniells, Nutraingredients-USA (France), 4/26/2007

4/26/2007 - Propolis, the waxy resin collected by honeybees and currently marketed for its health benefits, could also find use as a natural food preservative, suggests new research.

Suspicion over chemical-derived synthetic preservatives has pushed food makers to source natural preservatives such as rosemary extract instead, and market analysts Global Information pitch the global food preservative market at €422.7bn, reaching €522bn by 2008.

"It may be concluded that, the ethanolic extract of propolis tested, in the performed experimental conditions may successfully inhibit the E. coli development in vitro, at safe levels for human consumption and, consequently, they could be useful as ground fresh beef natural preserver or as unspecific antibacterial food preserver," wrote lead author Enzo Tosi in the journal Food Chemistry.

Tosi and his co-workers from Argentina's National University if Technology looked at the effect of Argentinian propolis extracts against Ecoli, and thereby as a preservative for foods.

"Most propolis components are natural constituents of food and recognized as safe substances," added Tosi…