Active Antioxidant Phenolics from Brazilian Red Propolis: An Optimization Study for Their Recovery and Identification by LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS

Abstract

Brazilian red propolis (BRP) is a natural product widely known for its phenolic composition and strong antioxidant properties. In this study, we used the Box–Behnken Design (BBD) with Surface Response Methodology to optimize the extraction conditions for total phenolic content (TPC) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) of bioactive phenolics from BRP. The extraction time, ethanol/water concentration and temperature, were tested. All variables had significant effects (p ≤ 0.05), with a desirability coefficient of 0.88. Under optimized conditions (90% ethanol at 80 °C for 30 min), the BRP extract showed a TPC of 129.00 ± 2.16 mg GAE/g and a TEAC of 3471.76 ± 53.86 µmol TE/g. Moreover, FRAP and ORAC assays revealed that the optimized BRP extract had 1472.86 ± 72.37 µmol Fe2+/g and 4339.61 ± 114.65 µmol TE/gof dry weight, respectively. Thirty-two phenolic compounds were tentatively identified by LC-QTOF-ESI-MS/MS, of which thirteen were found for the first time in BRP, including four flavones, one flavanol, two flavanones, two chalcones, and four isoflavonoids. Thus, our results highlight the importance of BRP as a source of a wide variety of phenolic compounds with significant antioxidant properties.

Histological, Immunohistochemical and Antioxidant Analysis of Skin Wound Healing Influenced by the Topical Application of Brazilian Red Propolis

“…As assessed by previous studies, BRP presents antioxidant actions that can prevent oxidative stress and related mechanisms that delay healing [ 17 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. To some extent, the presence of oxidative species, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), primarily in the inflammatory phase of wound healing, is necessary for the elimination of invading pathogens, as well as functioning as signaling molecules to recruit lymphocytes to stimulate vasoconstriction, among other assignments [ 68 ].…”

Integrated transcriptome and metabolome analyses revealed regulatory mechanisms of flavonoid biosynthesis in Radix Ardisia

“…The analysis of total phenolic content (TPC) was carried out according to the Folin-Ciocalteau spectrophotometric method, with some modifications ( Vieira de Morais et al., 2021 ). The 1 mL gallic acid (standard solution) or ACS and AC extract and 3 mL Folin–Ciocalteau solution (10% in water) were pipetted into a 25 mL test tube.…”

Propolis: An update on its chemistry and pharmacological applications

“…Each propolis type is characterized by the specific proportion of the dominant plant material. Various chromatographic techniques were used for evaluation of the botanical origin of propolis samples such as high performance thin-layer chromatography [58], high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) [59][60][61], gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [62], capillary electrophoresis [63], microscopic techniques [64]. Furthermore, structure elucidation techniques such as direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometry [52], nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) [65], and infrared spectroscopy (IR) [66] have been applied to screen compositional differences between propolis samples supplied from various origins.…”

“…Ahn et al [67] evaluated the antioxidant activity of ethanol extracts of propolis from various Chinese areas using the DPPH, TEAC and β-carotene bleaching assays. Chinese propolis extracts showed strong antioxidant activity with a positive correlation with the high total phenols content, such as flavonoids and phenolic acid esters, identified by HPLC coupled with a photodiode array (PDA) and mass spectrometry (MS) detection [60]. There are many other reports concerning the antioxidant potential of ethanol extract of propolis [44,78,79].…”