http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Honeybee products, Propolis, Food safety, Soil, Heavy metals 2025-12-01 application/pdf 490857 bytes Meat technology - Special Issue 66/3 2025 volume: 66 number: 3 startpage: 378 endpage: 382 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:8631 doi:10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.64 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/review Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology Bioindicators are organisms used to predict the level of environmental pollution in a selected geographical area. Some of these live organisms and their products are very sensitive to sur- rounding changes in the concentrations of heavy metals, whether due to geographical or an- thropogenic origins. High agricultural and industrial activity can be sources of chemical and other contaminants. Honeybee products are natural mixtures produced by a honey bee. The honeybee products are rich with biologically active compounds, such as carbohydrates, pro- teins, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, phenolics, minerals and enzymes. The most popular bee products are honey (unifloral and multifloral), bee venom, propolis, bee pollen, bee bread and royal jelly. Propolis is a honeybee product produced by honeybees using plant resins (more than 50%), beeswax, essential oils, pollen and other organic substances (alcohols, ac- ids and their esters, benzofurans, benzopyrenes, chalcones, flavonoids and their esters, glyc- erol and its esters, lignans, phenylpropanoids, steroids, terpenes and terpenoids). Propolis is a very popular honeybee products with high biological activities, such as anti-oxidant, an- timicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anticancer activities. Some studies shown in vitro antibacterial activity of propolis against different types of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and data of synergism exhibited among the various propolis com- pounds. The chemical composition of propolis is complex, and depends with geographical area and season. The chemical variability presents several challenges to its standardization and quality control. The present review is aimed at highlighting the presence of heavy metals in propolis, produced by the species Apis mellifera, from different geographical areas. Propolis as a bioindicator of elemental contamination Ćirić, Jelena Baltić, Tatjana Gerić, Tamara Živković, Saša Pećanac, Biljana Simunović, Sara Mrdović, Boris