Supercritical Extraction of Red Propolis: Operational Conditions and Chemical Characterization

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the best operational conditions for obtaining red propolis extract with high antioxidant potential through supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technology, using carbon dioxide (CO2) as the supercritical fluid and ethanol as the cosolvent. The following parameters were studied: overall extraction curve, S/F (mass of CO2/mass of sample), cosolvent percentage (0, 1, 2 and 4%) and global yield isotherms as a function of different pressures (250, 350 and 450 bar) and temperatures (31.7, 40 and 50 °C). Within the investigated parameters, the best conditions found were an S/F of 131 and the use of ethanol at the highest concentration (4% w/w), which resulted in higher extract yields and higher content of antioxidant compounds. Formononetin, the main biomarker of red propolis, was the compound found at the highest amounts in the extracts. As expected, the temperature and pressure conditions also influenced the process yield, with 350 bar and 40 °C being the best conditions for obtaining bioactive compounds from a sample of red propolis. The novel results for red propolis found in this study show that it is possible to obtain extracts with high antioxidant potential using a clean technology under the defined conditions.

Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Phenolics and Antioxidants from Propolis for Stabilization of Sunflower Oil

“…Golmahi and Elhamirad -Antioxidant effect from Propolis in sunflower oil total phenolic content and antioxidant activity are promising in the propolis. Many studies have also reported that propolis is a potential source of bioactive compounds (De Pontes et al, 2018;Osés et al, 2020;Reis et al, 2020).…”

Membrane‐Based Preparation Process and Antioxidant and Anti‐AGEs Activities of a Novel Propolis Ultrafiltrate

“…[6] Currently, extraction, isolation and purification approaches for propolis are diverse, [7,8] including traditional organic solvents extraction, [9] subcritical water extraction, [10] deep eutectic solvents extraction, [11] macro-porous resin enrichment, [12] ultrasound extraction, [13] microwave assisted extraction [14] and supercritical fluid extraction. [15] In addition to these methods, membrane-based ultrafiltration is highly suitable for natural products as it does not require heating, preventing deactivation of many natural molecules. [16,17] Furthermore, individual fraction can be further isolated by using sequential membranes with different permselective molecular weight cut-off (MWCO), although each application needs to be tailored for specific raw materials, as there is no all-purpose membrane-based process.…”