Opportunities of the use of propolis in animal breeding

Abstract

The propolis used as appropriate for a variety of purposes inside the hive is a mixture of wax gathered from flowers and buds of the plants by honeybees, and it is among the frequently used natural products. Propolis with its inclusion of flavonoids and caffeic acid esters having bactericidal, antiviral and antifungal properties is used for different purposes in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries and apitherapy centres in addition to its use inside the hive. Propolis that is composed of resin and balsam of plant (50%), wax (30%), essential oils (10%), pollen (5%), and other various materials (5%) can be in a different colour changing from yellow to dark brown.It is considered that propolis suggested for a variety of purposes can create new fields of application for the treatment of many diseases. In the previous studies, it has been reported that propolis is used as a natural disinfectant for incubating eggs and as a nutritional supplement or a functional food component for preventing aluminium toxicity while protecting ducks against typhoid fever and healing their wounds. Moreover, it has been stated that propolis has a reducing effect on mortality in broilers; a positive effect on live weight increase, feed consumption, and utilisation from feed in animals; a hindering effect on bacterial cell division against mastitis pathogens in cows; and a stimulant effect on phagocytes during bacterial infection. Due to its various features, propolis is a matter needed to be studied in terms of both organic animal breeding and animal health and sustainability. In the present review, information about the opportunities to use propolis, gaining importance day by day, in the field of animal breeding was given.