About the Project
A multidisciplinary PhD project is offered at the School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, aiming to optimise the production and processing of propolis and develop methods for fractionation and formulation in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics.
Bees are key to agricultural resilience and food security because production of food depends on pollination. Furthermore, apiculture presents a range of added value products such as bee venom, pollen, honey, royal jelly. In particular, propolis has been widely used in food and cosmetic industry including antimicrobial application and nutritional food supplements.
Propolis is a resinous, strongly adhesive natural apicultural product, mainly composed of plant resins collected from different parts of the plant as buds, buttons, and resins. It is used by bees to protect against invading microorganisms. The action against microorganisms is an essential characteristic of propolis, and have been used by human in pharmaceutical for centuries. The main bioactive components are flavonoids and a wide variety of phenolic compounds. Besides its antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties, propolis presents several in vitro and in vivo biological activities including antitumor, anti-hemorrhagic, regeneration of epithelium, reducing cholesterol, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antiparasite activity. These activities are attributed to the content of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. Propolis antioxidant and antimicrobial properties combined with its relatively low toxicity and several of its constituents being present in food and/or food additives, make it suitable preservative in new food applications. Propolis extracts components in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry of high commercial value and their extraction efficiency, quality and removal of impurities define the biological value of propolis.
The extraction of actives from propolis is heavily based on using organic solvents, due to the affinity of its chemical characteristics with the matrix. The extraction conditions such as solvent and temperature have influence on the recovery of flavonoids and phenolic compounds, their antioxidant capacity and biological value. The advancement of processing and extraction of propolis with new technologies (such as sonication, supercritical fluid, green extraction) is needed to add value by improving yield, and enchasing the extracts with new properties, while reducing the use of polluting organic solvents.
The objectives of this project will be (i) to optimise the processing of propolis with focus on preserving the biological value of extracts linking to antimicrobial activity (ii) understand the full composition and variability of propolis and develop extraction processes that will minimise the loss of active fractions and compounds (ii) explore the effectiveness of already reported and new compounds (iii) apply tools of bioprocess engineering to develop food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations for encapsulation and delivery of propolis extracts tailored to the applications (food, cosmetics, medical, antibacterial, antifungal, biofilm etc.).
The project will be highly multidisciplinary. The research is poised on the intersection between chemical engineering, formulation and biological sciences.
Informal enquiries should be directed to: Dr Kostas Gkatzionis: [Email Address Removed]
Applicants require a 2:1 or higher in a related subject area.