STABILITY OF BIOATIVE COMPOUNDS FROM PROPOLIS ETHANOL EXTRACTS IN LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE PACKAGING
Phenolic compounds, including flavonoids are the main bioactives of propolis, stand out for their antimicrobial and antioxidant characteristics. However, factors such as the incidence of light, temperature and the presence of oxygen facilitate the degradation of these compounds. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) packages have been constantly used by small producers of propolis extracts, which present high penetration capacity to the main degradation factors of propolis phenolic compounds. The objective of this work was to evaluate the stability of bioactive compounds of propolis ethanol extracts in low density polyethylene (LDPE) packages. To obtain the propolis ethanol extracts (PEE), raw propolis (collected in Sorocaba - SP) was ground (11% dry matter) and diluted in ethanol (70%), then it was placed in a 70°C water bath for 30 minutes, cooled in an ice bath and packaged in LDPE packages, with a capacity of 30 mL. For the stability tests the samples were stored at temperatures of <8°C, 25°C and 37°C for 0, 15, 30 and 45 days. The stability of the compounds was evaluated with respect to total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, oxidation index and antimicrobial activity. The evaluation of the phenolic compounds and flavonoids indicated that they remained stable for up to 30 days of storage (p <0.05). At 45 days of storage, the content of these compounds was reduced when stored at 37ºC, which presented a significant difference (p <0.05) in the samples stored at <8ºC. However, the evaluation of the oxidation index and antimicrobial activity, indicated that the reduction of these compounds did not interfere in the efficiency of the PEE. The results of this study indicate the feasibility of the use of LDPE packages for the ethanolic extracts of propolis, considering a shelf-life of up to 30 days.