Determinación del potencial nutracéutico y la actividad antioxidante de la miel propolizada elaborada por la Empresa APICARE, Riobamba - Chimborazo

Abstract

The Nutraceutical Potential and the Antioxidant Activity of the Propolized Honey elaborated in the company Apicare Cía. Ltda. of the city of Riobamba were determined. The research was carried out in laboratories of the Faculty of Sciences of the Polytechnic School of Chimborazo. The importance of the study was to verify by means of chemical and enzymatic tests the inhibitory activity of free radicals capable of altering certain biological functions, with a product that provides nutritional and actively biological components against these radicals. Quality control of raw materials was carried out on honey by applying the Ecuadorian Technical Standard INEN 1 572 and propolis with the Russian Standard RTS-RSFSR-317-77. The Folin-Ciocalteau method was used to quantify phenolic compounds, the results were expressed as mg of gallic acid (GA) per 100 g of sample, the following values were determined: 2 911 mg in propolis, 141 mg in honey, 1 592 mg in ginger and 149 mg in propolized honey, for flavonoids the AlCl3 method was applied, values were reported in mg of catechin per 100 g of sample of 3 192 mg, 19 mg, 386 mg and 36 mg for the respective sample analyzed, indicated above. The concentration of analyte with the best antioxidant activity, validating the enzymatic inhibition method of polyphenoloxidase, reported in propolis honey corresponds to 100 ppm with 52.51 %, surpassing ginger with 47.37 %, propolis with 40.40 % and honey with 36.45 %. We conclude that by combining honey with propolis and ginger there is better antioxidant activity compared to separate raw materials, categorizing the product as a food with high benefit for human health. It is recommended to carry out studies applying other methods to quantify antioxidant activity to complement the present research.