Toxic Metals in the Crude Propolis and Its Transfer Rate to the Ethanolic Extract
Ricardo de Oliveira Orsi,
Daniel Cavalcante Brambila Barros,
Roney de Carvalho Machedo Silva,
João Vitor de Queiroz,
Wellington Luiz de Paula Araújo,
Alex Junji Shinohara
Affiliations
Ricardo de Oliveira Orsi
Departamento de Produção Animal - Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia - Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP - Campus de Botucatu - São Paulo
Daniel Cavalcante Brambila Barros
College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences
São Paulo State University (UNESP)
Botucatu, SP, Brazil
Roney de Carvalho Machedo Silva
College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences
São Paulo State University (UNESP)
Botucatu, SP, Brazil
João Vitor de Queiroz
College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences
São Paulo State University (UNESP)
Botucatu, SP, Brazil
Wellington Luiz de Paula Araújo
College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences
São Paulo State University (UNESP)
Botucatu, SP, Brazil
Alex Junji Shinohara
College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences
São Paulo State University (UNESP)
Botucatu, SP, Brazil
Concentrations of six toxic metals (Ni, Cr, Hg, Cd, Pb and Sn) in 106 samples of Brazilian crude propolis and the transfer rate of these contaminants to ethanolic extract of propolis were evaluated by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results show the presence of all the analyzed metals in the samples of crude propolis of São Paulo and Minas Gerais States. Regarding the transfer of these metals to ethanolic extract of propolis, a significant reduction was observed for all metals analyzed. The crude propolis can be considered as an indicator of toxic metals in the environment and the reduction observed in the ethanolic extract of propolis makes the product safe for consumption.
