Natural resin association such as incense and propolis in zootechnology

Incense is a hardened rubbery resin that runs from subtropical plants; propolis is a resinous, rubbery and balsamic substance collected by bees from the buds of trees. These two substances have common origins and composition and their content may differ, depending on plants from which they are collected by humans man or bees; terpenes are prevalent in incense; flavanoids, aromatic acids and esters in propolis. The use of incense and propolis for the treatment of human and animal diseases has been well-known since the earliest times. In a previous report we demonstrated that the diffusion of incense and propolis can reduce the bacterial load in a school classroom; on this basis, we evaluated the effectiveness of incense and propolis in reducing the bacterial load in other two closed environments, that is a pig and a poultry farm. After spreading propolis in these two environments, the number of colony forming units in the samples collected both from the pig farm and the poultry farm was significantly lower. A further reduction in the bacterial load was relieved, when propolis and incense were used together. On the basis of these preliminary data, we conclude that propolis (especially when containing a high concentration of sesquiterpenes) and incense can be employed in zootechnology, to sanitise the closed environments of breeding farms. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.