Physical, chemical and sensory quality of propolis collected in Cuenca del Salado region, Argentina

GARCIA PAOLONI SOLEDAD; CIBANAL IRENE L.; FERNÁNDEZ, LETICIA ANDREA; RODRÍGUEZ SILVANA A.; MURRAY ANA P.; GALLEZ, LILIANA MARÍA

Congreso; 48th Apimondia Congress; 2023

APIMONDIA

The "Cluster Apícola de la Cuenca del Salado" (CACS) is a non-profit organization that brings together approximatelyone hundred beekeepers from the east of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. In this area, the existence of trees suchas eucalyptus, acacias, willows and casuarinas, among others, offer a suitable source of resins for the propolisproduction. To carry out a diversification and added-value project, the CACS organized technical training for thebeekeepers, and purchased propolis traps, which were set in hives from ten apiaries distributed nearby the cities ofRauch (3), Chascomús (2) and Mar del Plata (5) between November 2021 and March 2022. Sensory analyses wereperformed by a panel of seven semi-trained evaluators who described the presentation, appearance, brightness,colour, consistency, intensity and description of the smell, taste and trigeminal sensations, as well as aromaticintensity. Also were considered the presence of mechanical impurities. The analyzed physico-chemical parameterswere waxes, total polyphenols/flavonoids content, oxidation index, UV spectrogram (IRAM-INTA norms 15935-1/2) andcolour (CR-400 Chroma meter Konica Minolta). The general appearance of the samples was homogeneous, with ascarce presence of impurities and a predominant bright reddish-brown colour, corroborated by CIE L*a*b* system. Allthe samples presented a hard to semi-hard consistency at 20 + 4ºC, a mild resinous odour with slight differences inintensity and insipid flavour. The analysis of the raw samples showed differences regarding the wax content from 9.82to 40.74%. All alcoholic-extracts exhibited a characteristic absorption profile in the UV-visible spectrum with a widebroad band between 240 and 340 nm and maximum values between 290/300 nm, wich is characteristic of phenoliccompounds. The extracts also differed in the content of total polyphenols (50.09-86.98 g eq gallic acid/100 g propolis),total flavonoids (1.97-5.22 g eq quercetin/100 g propolis) and oxidation index (1.0-7.0 seconds). All samples showedvalues in accordance with the quality standards required by Argentina regulations, except for only one from thecoastal area that exceed 0.74% of wax content. Thus, it can be concluded that all samples exhibited excellent sensory,physical and chemical characteristics, wich makes the studied area promising for propolis production.