Propolis is a resinous mixture, with complex composition, collected by honey bees from leaf buds, shoots and petioles of leaves from different plants, being constituted by exudates, components of bee metabolism, pollen and waxes. The bee glue has been described as having a broad spectrum of biological properties, including anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-neurodegenerative, among others. This multifunctionality of propolis can be explored for the development of different applications in fields such as anti-cancer therapy and may be adjusted based on the effective composition of the extract. According to its complex composition which varies with the plant source, the most common types, such poplar, green and red propolis, were characterized to access their phenolic composition and bioactivities. For that, after extraction, the phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESI/MS). To evaluate the biological activity of the extracts, the antioxidant capacity was evaluated through the DPPH, ABTS and reducing power assay. With the results it was intended to correlate the chemical composition with the biological activity, accessing the potentialities of each propolis type for use in combination models with antineoplastic drugs applied in cancer therapy.