Supercritical Extraction of Red Propolis: Operational Conditions and Chemical Characterization
João Henrique de Oliveira Reis,
Bruna Aparecida Souza Machado,
Gabriele de Abreu Barreto,
Jeancarlo Pereira dos Anjos,
Larissa Moraes dos Santos Fonseca,
Alex Alisson Bandeira Santos,
Fernando Luiz Pellegrini Pessoa,
Janice Izabel Druzian
Affiliations
João Henrique de Oliveira Reis
School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Barão de Jeremoabo Street, 147, Salvador 40110-100, Bahia, Brazil
Bruna Aparecida Souza Machado
SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Advanced Health Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), University Center SENAI CIMATEC, National Service of Industrial Learning—SENAI, Orlando Gomes Avenue, 1845, Salvador 41650-010, Bahia, Brazil
Gabriele de Abreu Barreto
SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Advanced Health Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), University Center SENAI CIMATEC, National Service of Industrial Learning—SENAI, Orlando Gomes Avenue, 1845, Salvador 41650-010, Bahia, Brazil
Jeancarlo Pereira dos Anjos
SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Advanced Health Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), University Center SENAI CIMATEC, National Service of Industrial Learning—SENAI, Orlando Gomes Avenue, 1845, Salvador 41650-010, Bahia, Brazil
Larissa Moraes dos Santos Fonseca
SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Advanced Health Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), University Center SENAI CIMATEC, National Service of Industrial Learning—SENAI, Orlando Gomes Avenue, 1845, Salvador 41650-010, Bahia, Brazil
Alex Alisson Bandeira Santos
SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Advanced Health Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), University Center SENAI CIMATEC, National Service of Industrial Learning—SENAI, Orlando Gomes Avenue, 1845, Salvador 41650-010, Bahia, Brazil
Fernando Luiz Pellegrini Pessoa
SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Advanced Health Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), University Center SENAI CIMATEC, National Service of Industrial Learning—SENAI, Orlando Gomes Avenue, 1845, Salvador 41650-010, Bahia, Brazil
Janice Izabel Druzian
School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Barão de Jeremoabo Street, 147, Salvador 40110-100, Bahia, Brazil
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.