Chemical Profiling and Geographic Differentiation of Ugandan Propolis by GC-MS Through Chemometric Modelling

Abstract

Propolis is a resinous substance collected by honeybees, and its long-known bioactivity urged research on its exact composition on active ingredients. It was suggested that chemical composition reflects the botanical sources and environmental conditions of its origin; however, information on differences related to geographical origin is still incomplete. Therefore, this study aimed to characterise the volatile and semi-volatile chemical constituents of Ugandan propolis from nine agro-ecological zones using headspace gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) and derivatisation-based GC-MS, coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. In total, 213 volatile and 169 non-volatile compounds were tentatively identified, including monoterpenes (α-pinene), sesquiterpenes (α-copaene), triterpenoids (β-amyrin acetate), diterpene resin acids (abietic acid), phenolic acids (caffeic acid), alkylresorcinols (bilobol) and many others. Multivariate chemometric modelling using partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), orthogonal PLSDA (oPLS-DA) showed strong geographic discrimination of samples (Q2 > 0.90) for several district comparisons. Heatmap clustering and variable importance in projection (VIP) analysis identified chemical markers. Notably, oPLS-DA revealed excellent discrimination between Nakasongola and Bushenyi, and between Adjumani and Bushenyi, in both volatile and non-volatile datasets. The findings provide the first comprehensive chemical profiling of Ugandan propolis, demonstrating the utility of combined GC-MS approaches and multivariate analysis for regional differentiation. This work lays the groundwork for standardising propolis preparations and establishing appropriate quality control in pharmacological applications.