# Comparison of the Biological Potential and Chemical Composition of Brazilian and Mexican Propolis
## 1 Introduction  
The etymology of the word \"proplis\" comes from the Greek \"pro\" (in defense of) and \"polis\" (city/community), which defines this word as a \"natural product in defense of the community\" [1]. Examples and evidence of ancient use of propolisis (\"black wax\" or \"balsan\") for therapeutic purposes are found in bibibical records [2]. Use by ancient civilizations aimed different purposes such as embalming antiputrefractive (Egyptians) and medical (Greek and Roman) and antipyretic agent (Incas) [3]. In the 17 th century, propolisis became popular in Europe for its antimicrobial activity, so London pharmacopoias listed it on the official drug list [2]. In 1908, the first scientific work [4] appeared on the chemical properties and composition of propolisis, indexed in the Chemical Abstracts. In 1968, the summary of the first patent, from Romania, appeared in Chemical Abstracts, using propolisis for the production of batholiths (RO 48101) [5]. During wars (South Africa, Russia), propolisis was widely used as awound healing agent and also for tuberculosis treatment. In the 1980s, with the knowledge of its pharmacological properties, propolis began to be industrially incorporated into food and pharmaceutical products (topical applications) as a disease preventative [6]. Mexican propolis is a product that has been used since ancient times and has maintained its appeal status through the years due to its medicinal properties. Since pre-Hispanic times, beekeeping was as important as the cultivation of corn, considering honey as an essential food product for the Maya culture. In Puebla, Mexico, the Nahua community continues to market products such as sweets, eye drops, soap, shamppoo, and other cosmetic products whose main ingredients are honey, pollen, and propolis [7]. However, the first scientific studies on Mexican propolis did not begin until the early 2000s. Scientific research is motivated by the great potential and positioning of propolis. In 2017, to establish the quality standards of Mexican propolis, the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Feeding established the Official Mexican Standard for the Production and Specifications of Propolis (NOM-003-SAG/GAN-2017-Propolis, production and specifications for its processing) [8]. In Brazil, the first scientific study on propolis was published in 1981 and is related to antibacterial capabilities. Regarding patents, the first deposit in Brazil was made in 1992 (Japanese patent--JP 92033270), while the first Brazilian patent was deposited in 1994 (BR 94042861). As of 2006, the number of patent deposits has increased; however, there are still few deposits made [9; 10; 11]. Brazil (8,516,000 km\({}^{2}\)) and Mexico (1,973,000 km\({}^{2}\)) are large countries in surface area and present different types of biomes (humid jungles, coastal jungle, deserts, mangroves, savannah, and others). In this diversity of ecosystems, there are different species of bees and, consequently, different types of propolis [12]. Both Mexico and Brazil have carried out researches on biological properties of propolis from different locations (Figure 1); however, contamination in Brazilian propolis by herbicides and heavy metals is also reported. Figure 1: Maps with the biomes of (**a**) Brazil, beekeeping regions of (**b**) Mexico and the collection points of the different articles evaluated. Due to the different beneficial properties attributed to propolisis from different geographical origins, the scientific community has been researching on this matrix in different areas in the last decades. Between 2013 and 2017, over 2000 scientific articles related to the study of propolis were published, with investigations on Brazilian propolis corresponding to 16% among a total of 94 countries responsible for all the studies [13].