Abstract
Objective: This study objective to compare two adsorbents in the ability to recover ethanol in the propolis production by-product.
 Methods: Research methods include initial identification of the compound content in ethanol by-products of propolis production with GC/MS and determination of ethanol levels by GC-FID. The process of increasing ethanol content is carried out by the adsorption distillation method; the adsorbent used are synthetic zeolite 3A and white silica gel which has activated with the furnace.
 Results: The result obtained from the study is the initial ethanol content 27.5%. After the ethanol recycle process using synthetic zeolite 3A 30, 60, and 90 grams, it was obtained content 82.3%, 87.1%, and 90.9%. By using 30, 60, and 90 grams silica gel, it was obtained content 72.0%, 79.2%, and 82.2%.
 Conclusion: Based on these results it can be concluded that the ethanol content of the by-products of propolis production has been successfully increased by the distillation adsorption method with synthetic zeolite 3A 90 grams as the best result. The ethanol which recycling with this formulation has the characteristic odor of ethanol, which is very strong and does not has the characteristic odor of propolis.
Highlights
Propolis is a primary product produced by bees, besides honey, which is widely used in the health sector [1]
The value of ethanol content and composition of ethanol produced from the regeneration propolis production never known before
Ethanol from the by-product of propolis production obtained from the bubbling unit vacuum evaporator was analyzed for ethanol content quantitatively with the GC-FID instrument, the percentage of ethanol content produced can be seen in table 1
Summary
Propolis is a primary product produced by bees, besides honey, which is widely used in the health sector [1]. Propolis is a mixture of resin and bee saliva collected by honeybees from plant buds, leaves, and stems with various physical properties [2]. It acts as the primary protection for bees nests [3]. The chemical composition of propolis depends on the geography and plant-dependent variables [4]. The medical applications of propolis led to an increased interest in its chemical composition as well as its origin [14, 15]
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