Produção e caracterização de membranas de quitosana com extrato alcoólico de própolis para fins biomédicos

Abstract

Chitosan is a natural, low-cost, renewable and biodegradable product. Due to its accelerating properties in wound healing, biocompatibility and low toxicity, it has been a source of research in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry. Chitosan is obtained by the deacetylation of low molecular weight chitin, its structure is formed by the repetition of 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose and N-acetyl-2-deoxy-D- glucopyranose units, the units are joined by β-bonds (1 → 4). Propolis is a complex mixture composed of resinous material collected by the bees of the branches, flowers, pollen, shoots and exudates of trees, has antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, cicatrizing activity among others, its wide application is explained by the chemical composition which includes flavonoids, aromatic acids and esters, aldehydes and ketones, terpenoids and phenylpropanoids, steroids, amino acids, polysaccharides, hydrocarbons, fatty acids and various other compounds in small amounts. After the propolis is collected, it undergoes a process of grinding and homogenization, then it is added to the ethanol in a thermostatized water bath to obtain the alcoholic extract of propolis. In this work the propolis alcoholic extract was incorporated the chitosan membranes in order to obtain a biomaterial with properties different from those found in the membrane only with chitosan. The membranes of chitosan and chitosan with alcoholic extract were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, wettability, surface energy. The addition of alcoholic extract did not alter the topography of the membranes. However in the wettability tests the increase in hydrophilicity was observed due to the increase of the polar component observed in the surface energy test. In the toxicity tests for the alcoholic extract this showed no toxic effects. Chitosan membranes with propolis extract may be a new option for the manufacture of biomaterials because of the properties cited above