Desenvolvimento de cápsulas contendo micropartículas de própolis e mentha crispa destinadas ao tratamento da giardíase

Abstract

In view of the high incidence of the disease and the parasites' resistance to commonly used drugs, this work aimed to develop capsules containing microparticles of red propolis associated with Mentha crispa for the treatment of giardiasis. Three microencapsulation formulations were developed, using maltodextrin and starch as encapsulating agents, and aerosil as an antiaggregation agent, with the presence of EPV in F1, EMC in F2 and EPV+EMC in F3. Through spray drying, the microencapsulated powders from the 3 formulations, MEPV, MEMC and MEPV+MC, were successfully obtained, being fine and uniform, with yields of 19.5%, 32.6% and 34.43%, respectively. The tests carried out revealed satisfactory levels of phenolic compounds and total flavonoids in the EPV, which are reported to be mainly responsible for its pharmacological activities, where 85.4% of the flavonoid content and 61% of the phenol content were preserved after drying in the MEPV, and this preservation was even greater in the MEPV+MC. The chemical composition of the EMC obtained commercially was determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GCMS), revealing the characteristic peaks of menthol and menthone, cited among the major medicinal components of the species, where there was a 72.9% conservation of the concentration of menthone and 88.1% of menthol in MEPV+MC, a significantly higher conservation than that observed in MEMC. These data indicate that the association increased the microencapsulation capacity of the active ingredients in EPV and EMC. It can therefore be concluded that capsules containing microparticles of red propolis associated with Mentha crispa represent a promising avenue for the development of new treatment alternatives for giardiasis, and that further studies are needed on the subject.