Extraction of chrysin from propolis and its selective encapsulation in synthetic/natural surfactant-based micelles

Abstract

The encapsulation characteristics of chrysin (important flavonoid with potential food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical applications) was studied with nonionic surfactants Triton X-114 (TX) and Quillaja Saponin (QS), individually. The factors influencing the encapsulation efficiency (EE) of standard chrysin that is surfactant concentration, pH, NaCl concentration, and chrysin concentration were analyzed. The maximum EE of standard chrysin was found to be 98.23 ± 1.63% with TX micelles and 83 ± 2.31% with QS micelles under the following conditions: 0.02 mg/mL standard chrysin, 5% NaCl, pH 7, and 4% w/w TX 6% w/w QS. Selective extraction of chrysin from propolis was tried using three extraction techniques namely Maceration, Microwave-assisted Extraction (MAE), and Maceration with Microwave-assisted Extraction (MMAE). MAE, which gave a chrysin yield of 3 mg/g, was deemed the most suitable method for chrysin extraction from propolis. This MAE crude extract was subjected to encapsulation under the conditions previously optimized for standard chrysin. Specific encapsulation of chrysin from the propolis crude extract was achieved, with an EE of 92 ± 0.86% with TX and 84.97 ± 1.34% with QS. The encapsulated chrysin was characterized using particle size analysis and antioxidant activity. TX system was found to be the most suitable for the encapsulation, as it was able to selectively encapsulate chrysin from propolis, despite the presence of other interfering flavonoids in the crude extract. The microwave-assisted extraction combined with surfactant-based micellar encapsulation can be said to be an effective process for the extraction and encapsulation of chrysin from propolis.