An Experimental Evidence for Antibacterial Activity of Propolis on Bacteria from Lebanese Patients

Propolis, with its distinctive chemical composition, has been known for therapeutic potential in treating numerous diseases. This study investigated whether propolis has an antibacterial effect on bacteria in Lebanon. Twenty- eight samples of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria were collected from Raii Hospital and Al-Taakhi Medical Center in Gazieh, South Lebanon. Each sample was streaked on three different Petri dishes with different percentages of propolis under aseptic conditions. The results were recorded visually and confirmed by Gram staining after incubation for 24 h at 37°C. The obtained results show that propolis inhibited the growth of 18% of the total number of collected bacteria. The majority of bacteria on which propolis had an inhibitory effect were gram- positive bacteria, which inhibited 50% of them, whereas it only inhibited the growth of 9% of the gram-negative bacteria. Propolis was also shown to have an antifungal effect.