Are by-products from beeswax recycling process a new promising source of bioactive compounds with biomedical properties?

doi:10.1016/j.fct.2017.12.041

Food and Chemical Toxicology

Volume 112, February 2018, Pages 126-133

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2017.12.041 Get rights and content

Highlights

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By-products from beeswax recycling process possess high content of polyphenols.
•
By-products from beeswax recycling process show high total antioxidant capacity.
•
By-products from beeswax recycling process exert anticancer activities.
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By-products from beeswax recycling process may play promising healthy effects.

Abstract

During the process of beeswax recycling, many industrial derivatives are obtained. These matrices may have an interesting healthy and commercial potential but to date they have not been properly studied. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the proximal and phytochemical composition, the antioxidant capacity and cytotoxic effects of two by-products from beeswax recycling process named MUD 1 and MUD 2 on liver hepatocellular carcinoma. Our results showed that MUD 1 presented the highest (P < .05) fiber, protein, carbohydrate, polyphenol and flavonoid concentration, as well as the highest (P < .05) total antioxidant capacity than the MUD 2 samples. MUD1 exerted also anticancer activity on HepG2 cells, by reducing cellular viability, increasing intracellular ROS levels and affecting mitochondrial functionality in a dose-dependent manner.

We showed for the first time that by-products from beeswax recycling process can represent a rich source of phytochemicals with high total antioxidant capacity and anticancer activity; however, further researches are necessary to evaluate their potentiality for human health by in vivo studies.

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Food production is one of the most important economic sectors in the world, which in turn is responsible for a great amount of industrial waste. Food waste, defined as the leftover material from animal or vegetable origin used in food and beverage production, has become a worldwide burden (Oreopoulou and Russ, 2007). Some decades ago, food wastes were considered neither a cost nor a benefit since they were sent for composting, brought to landfills and used as animal feed (Baiano, 2014). However, nowadays, this attitude is becoming to change because of several reasons, such as the substantial disposal costs, the need to reduce the waste impact on human health, the awareness of the potential benefit of biocomponents present in food waste and the environmental concerns related to this matter (Laufenberg et al., 2003). In particular, increasing ecological awareness and waste accumulation, which are economically and environmentally costly to dispose (e.g. landfill, incineration), have prompted the wider scientific community to find other uses such as biofuels or carbon sources for cattle feed. However, growing public concerns about hunger, conserving the environment, and the effect of socioeconomic factors have accelerated research into food waste (Stuart, 2009). At the present, the food industry is focused on the reduction of the energy and water consumption, and, in a residual way, on the recovery of energy from waste, so that there is an urgent need to invest in research, new recovery technologies and/or new production lines for the reuse of biocomponents present in food waste (Baiano, 2014); currently, there is still a great wastage of food by-products prompting us to seek alternative uses of this waste.

The recovery of added value biologically active compounds from leftover materials used in food and beverage production and its valorization has many advantages: it provides a rich source of phytochemicals and biologically active compounds which could be incorporated back in the food chain or used for medicinal purposes. For example, collagen derived from fish skin, bones and fins can be used for the delivery of anticancer drugs or genes that promote bone and cartilage formation; animal brains and nervous systems are a rich source of cholesterol while heparin can be extracted from the liver. At the same time, nutraceuticals obtained from seaweed or plants are usually used as antioxidants or modulators or appetite (Baiano, 2014).

Apiculture (from Latin: apis “bee”) is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. Bee products include honey and other products that the hive produces like beeswax, propolis, pollen, venom, royal jelly, and others. It is of great interest to study the various products that are obtained from the hive in order to add value to the beekeeping sector while contributing, at the same time, to the study of potential molecules of biomedical interest. The recycling of the beeswax results in substances, hitherto considered as industrial waste, which, however, could have an important value in biomedicine, although they have not been properly studied to date. The aim of this study was to evaluate the proximal, nutritional and phytochemical composition, as well as the antioxidant capacity of different beeswax recycling by-products; the cytotoxic effects on HepG2 were also assessed, by evaluating the cellular viability, intracellular ROS production and the mitochondrial functionality.

Section snippets

Sample collection and preparation

In the factory wax, during the recycling process of the wax honeycombs, the combs were collected and subjected to a heating process by steam. A sediment with inorganic and organic waste was separated from wax. This waste included pollen, molting debris of baby bees, etc. This sediment, called MUD 1, represented about 50% of the initial weight of the product that arrived at the factory. The remaining wax was then passed to a continuous decanter, where a fine sediment was generated: this new

Composition of by-products from beeswax recycling process

In nature, many insects are able to produce wax, but some Apoidea, especially bees, produce a wax that has important healthy and economic value (Kaluza et al., 2016). Beeswax, the most used wax, is mainly produced by species Apis mellifera and A. cerana, which are the most diffused bred bees by humans providing, therefore, easier access to this bee product. One of the most important challenges of the beekeeping sector is to obtain profitability from the numerous byproducts obtained from the

Conclusions

Nowadays, it is becoming necessary to exploit by-products before they become wastes, in order to increase the eco-sustainability of food processing industry. In this context, the present study demonstrates, for the first time, that by-products from beeswax recycling process are a rich source of proteins, minerals, polyphenols, which confer to them a strong total antioxidant capacity, and low levels of toxics. In addition, the toxic effects of these samples were demonstrated on human liver

Acknowledgments

The present study was partially funded by the “National Beekeeping Aid Program (Programa Nacional de Ayudas a la Apicultura)”, cofounded by the European Union and assigned to Spanish FEGA and FEAGA agencies. The authors wish to thank also Ms. Monica Glebocki for extensively editing the manuscript.

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Are by-products from beeswax recycling process a new promising source of bioactive compounds with biomedical properties?

Highlights

Abstract

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Sample collection and preparation

Composition of by-products from beeswax recycling process

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Food Chem. Toxicol.

Anal. Biochem.

LWT – Food Sci. Technol

Food Chem.

Cell

Anal. Biochem.

Food Chem.

Nutr. Res.

Bioresour. Technol.

Food Chem.

Food Chem.

Mitochondrion

Free Radic. Biol. Med.

Chem. Biol. Interact.

Meth. Enzymol.

Food Chem.

Food Chem. Toxicol.

Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists

Strawberry-tree honey induces growth inhibition of human colon cancer cells and increases ROS generation: a comparison with Manuka honey

Int. J. Mol. Sci.

Screening methods to measure antioxidant activity of sorghum (sorghum bicolor) and sorghum products

J. Agric. Food Chem.

Recovery of biomolecules from food wastes—a review

Molecules

5-Hydroxy-7-Methoxyflavone triggers mitochondrial-associated cell death via reactive oxygen species signaling in human colon carcinoma cells

PLoS One

Phenolic composition of propolis from China and from South America

Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung - Sec. C J. Biosci.

Estimation of total flavonoid content in propolis by two complementary colorimetric methods

J. Food Drug Anal.