Desenvolvimento de biomateriais PCL/resíduo de própolis – aproveitamento e valorização de descartes da apicultura

Abstract

Extractive residues of natural origin, such as the extractive disposal of propolis, are increasingly used in the development and improvement of already known polymers, mainly for the health and packaging sectors.The incorporation of active properties is an essential factor in the search for this waste, as they provide usefulness to a resource that is often discarded, offering financial profitability to the holders of this material, as disposal becomes an option. The main objective of this study was to produce membranes containing propolis extractive residue, red and green, at concentrations of 10, 25 and 50% in association with the Poly(ε-caprolactone) polymer. The method used for preparation was simple hot mixing with incorporation of the residue, followed by simple pressing. The residues were characterized by FTIR and HPLC. The membranes, in turn, were characterized by TG, SEM, FTIR and degradability. As a result, it was noticed that the residues, according to FTIR and HPLC analyses, still contained relatively important compounds in the samples, such as many isoflavonoids with characteristics relevant in medicine. The membranes showed degradation peaks equivalent to the hours, days and weeks analyzed. The SEM result showed that, apparently, the membranes managed to be miscible, indicating some miscibility between the base polymer and the residues. Thus, it was possible to prepare films containing PCL whose release of flavonoid compounds is facilitated, thus demonstrating the possibility of new applications, adding value to a residue from the propolis industry.