Ultrasound-Assisted Pressurized Fluid Extraction of Antioxidant and Anticancer Molecules from a Mangaba, Cambuí and Red Propolis Blend

TL;DR

This study shows that a blend of mangaba, cambuí, and red propolis can be extracted to yield antioxidant and anticancer compounds using ultrasound-assisted methods.

Contribution

The study introduces an optimized ultrasound-assisted pressurized fluid extraction method for obtaining bioactive compounds from a plant and propolis blend.

Findings

Sequential extraction with ethanol/water yielded high phenolic content and moderate antioxidant activity.

The extract showed 82.3% cytotoxic inhibition against lung carcinoma cells at 100 μg/mL.

Mass spectrometry identified antiproliferative phenolics in the extract.

Abstract

This study explored the antioxidant and anticancer potential of extracts obtained from the mangaba, cambuí, and red propolis blend. The extracts were obtained using ultrasound-assisted pressurized fluid extraction (UAPFE) at 50 bar, 60 °C, and a flow rate of 2 mL/min. Both sequential extraction with solvents of increasing polarity (propane followed by ethanol/water) and one-step extraction were employed for 30 min. Extracts were characterized by ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity (via DPPH and FRAP assays), and cytotoxicity using the sulforhodamine B colorimetric method. Among the tested conditions, the sequential extraction with ethanol/water (UAPFE-SE) yielded 16.2 ± 3.0% (overall extraction yield), with high phenolic content (24.1 ± 0.4 µg/mg). Mass spectrometry revealed the presence of antiproliferative phenolics. The UAPFE-SE extract demonstrated moderate antioxidant activity, with FRAP values of 394.0 ± 6.0 µg Fe2+/mg and DPPH scavenging capacity of 28.5 ± 0.3 µg Trolox equivalents/mg. Additionally, it exhibited cytotoxic inhibition of 82.3 ± 1.7% against lung carcinoma cells at a concentration of 100 μg/mL. The results suggest that the antioxidant properties and cytotoxic effect against lung cancer cells in vitro warrant further investigation to assess therapeutic potential.

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