Dados do Trabalho

Título

Microencapsulating organic propolis: assessing effects on phenolic compounds stability and bioactivity in gastrointestinal digestion and Caco-2 epithelial transport

Introdução

Propolis is a resinous substance produced by bees, which is associated with a myriad of biological properties, such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and especially antioxidant. This study focused on organic propolis - type 1 (OP1), collected from the native forest region of General Carneiro, PR, Brazil.

Material e Métodos

This work aimed to microencapsulate the ethanolic extract of OP1 in three different forms: extract + arabic gum by spray dryer (AG), extract + vegetable fat by spray chilling (VF), and extract + arabic gum + vegetable fat by spray dryer (AG+VF). All particles were analyzed for physical characteristics and subjected to an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and epithelial cellular transport using CACO-2 monolayer cells, simulating intestinal lining. After digestion, bioaccessible and basolateral fractions (collected after the transport assay) of the particles were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS), while the antioxidant activity was assessed against reactive oxygen species. The anti-inflammatory activity was done in RAW 264.7 cells transfected with luciferase gene to determine nuclear factor kappa b (NF-kB) transcription factor activation, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) cytokine inhibition, and CXCL2/MIP-2 chemokine inhibition.

Resultados e Discussão

Results showed a predominance of lignans and phenolic acids in the chemical composition, with distinct release kinetics observed among particles during in vitro digestion. Regarding antioxidant potential after epithelial transport, AG+VF particles stood out (p < 0.05) in inhibiting radicals such as peroxyl (3.39 µmol Trolox equivalents/mg propolis) and hypochlorous acid (IC50 0.121 µg propolis/mL). Similar behavior was identified in AG+VF particles for anti-inflammatory potential, showing higher inhibition of NF-kB transcription factor (28% at 100 µg propolis/mL basolateral) and TNF-α (53% at 100 µg propolis/mL basolateral) compared to other encapsulation forms. No significant inhibitory effects were observed on CXCL2/MIP-2 chemokine.

Conclusão

In conclusion, the encapsulation process effectively preserved the bioactive properties of propolis, particularly through phenolic compound release kinetics, with AG+VF particles demonstrating notable efficacy. Future studies could explore incorporating these particles into functional food products to enhance their nutritional and functional value.