Dados do Trabalho

Título

Exploring the potential of pressurized liquid extraction of bioactive compounds from green propolis: A faster and sustainable alternative to conventional maceration

Introdução

Propolis, a resinous mixture crafted by bees, is a bioactive compound-rich raw material containing essential oils, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. Renowned for its multipurpose properties, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antiproliferative properties, bioactive compounds from propolis hold great promise for incorporation into food and pharmaceutical products. This study investigates the efficiency and biological properties of propolis extract by comparing conventional maceration (MAC) with pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), an eco-friendly extraction method.

Material e Métodos

Four propolis extracts were prepared: MAC100 (100% EtOH), MAC70 (70:30 v/v EtOH/H2O) both at room temperature for 24 h with a solid/liquid (S/L) ratio of 0.03, PLE100 (100% EtOH) and PPLE70 (70:30 v/v EtOH/H2O), both for 5 min 10 mPa, 50 °C, and S/L of 0.05. The extraction processes were compared based on yield and extract quality, assessed by total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant capacity via ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethyl benzothiazoline −6- ammonium sulfonate), DPPH (2,2 -diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil), ORAC (Oxygen radical absorbance capacity), and RNS (reactive nitrogen species) assays. Neuroprotective potential against acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AchE) was also evaluated.

Resultados e Discussão

MAC100 exhibited the highest yield (0.73), followed by PLE100 (0.58), MAC70 (0.50), and PLE70 (0.23 g g-1). These findings confirm that the polar nature of pure ethanol extraction may facilitate the extraction of wax compounds from the propolis samples. PLE70 presented the highest TPC (680 mg GAE g-1), TFC (8.5 mg quercetin g-1), and antioxidant capacity for DPPH (0.76 mmolTE g-1) and ABTS (11.9 mmolTE g-1) assays among all extracts. In addition, no significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed for the extracts MAC70 and PLE70 on the IC50 values of ORAC (1.5 and 2.5 µg mL-1) and RNS (0.19 and 0.24 mg mL-1, respectively). PLE70 and MAC70 exhibited the lowest IC50 values for AchE (0.34 and 0.54 mg mL-1, respectively), corroborating with antioxidant capacity results.

Conclusão

In conclusion, MAC100 and PLE1000 provided higher extract yields; however, PLE70 and MAC70 provided high extract quality. This study suggests that PLE using EtOH/H2O is a faster method for extracting antioxidant and anticholinergic compounds.