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One of the major benefits of biomedicine is the use of biocomposites as wound dressings to help improve the treatment of injuries. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to develop and characterize biocomposites based on bacterial cellulose (BC) with different concentrations of collagen and starch and characterize their thermal, morphological, mechanical, physical, and barrier properties. In total, nine samples were produced with fixed amounts of glycerol and BC and variations in the amount of collagen and starch. The water activity (0.400&ndash, 0.480), water solubility (12.94&ndash, 69.7%), moisture (10.75&ndash, 20.60%), thickness (0.04&ndash, 0.11 mm), water vapor permeability (5.59&ndash, 14.06 &times, 10&minus, 8 g&middot, mm/m2&middot, h&middot, Pa), grammage (8.91&ndash, 39.58 g&middot, cm&minus, 2), opacity (8.37&ndash, 36.67 Abs 600 nm&middot, mm&minus, 1), elongation (4.81&ndash, 169.54%), and tensile strength (0.99&ndash, 16.32 MPa) were evaluated and defined. In addition, scanning electron microscopy showed that adding biopolymers in the cellulose matrix made the surface compact, which also influenced the visual appearance. Thus, the performance of the biocomposites was directly influenced by their composition. The performance of the different samples obtained resulted in them having different potentials for application considering the injury type. This provides a solution for the ineffectiveness of traditional dressings, which is one of the great problems of the biomedical sector.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has received considerable attention due to its unique properties, including an ultrafine network structure with high purity, mechanical strength, inherent biodegradability, biocompatibility, high water-holding capacity and high crystallinity. These properties allow BC to be used in biomedical and industrial applications, such as medical product. This research investigated the production of BC by Gluconacetobacter hansenii ATCC 23769 using different carbon sources (glucose, mannitol, sucrose and xylose) at two different concentrations (25 and 50 g∙L−1). The BC produced was used to develop a biocomposite with montmorillonite (MMT), a clay mineral that possesses interesting characteristics for enhancing BC physical-chemical properties, at 0.5, 1, 2 and 3% concentrations. The resulting biocomposites were characterized in terms of their physical and barrier properties, morphologies, water-uptake capacities, and thermal stabilities. Our results show that bacteria presented higher BC yields in media with higher glucose concentrations (50 g∙L−1) after a 14-day incubation period. Additionally, the incorporation of MMT significantly improved the mechanical and thermal properties of the BC membranes. The degradation temperature of the composites was extended, and a decrease in the water holding capacity (WHC) and an improvement in the water release rate (WRR) were noted. Determining a cost-effective medium for the production of BC and the characterization of the produced composites are extremely important for the biomedical applications of BC, such as in wound dressing materials.

Diante do aumento no interesse do mel pelas indústrias de alimentos e farmacêutica, decorrente principalmente das suas propriedades funcionais e medicinais, bem como de suas novas possibilidades de aplicação, o objetivo deste estudo foi realizar um monitoramento tecnológico para avaliar o panorama nacional da proteção de processos e produtos relacionados a esta matéria-prima. A pesquisa foi realizada na base de dados on line do Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial (INPI), visto que abrange todas as patentes depositadas e publicadas no Brasil. Foram selecionados 142 documentos para compor o escopo dos resultados, considerados relevantes para a pesquisa. A partir do mapeamento tecnológico realizado neste estudo, percebe-se que essa matriz está sendo utilizada para o desenvolvimento de produtos e processos em diferentes áreas tecnológicas e que o Brasil ainda é um país de pouco interesse para a proteção da tecnologia na área pesquisada, evidenciado através do pequeno número de patentes de não residentes.

A própolis é um produto natural elaborado a partir de secreções de árvores, flores, folhas e pólen, recebendo ainda a adição de substâncias secretadas pelo metabolismo glandular das abelhas. Devido à importância farmacológica, terapêutica, científica e econômica deste produto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar as potencialidades, características e evolução das competências tecnológicas, traduzidas através de dados estatísticos de patentes depositados no Brasil, no que diz respeito aos processos de extração e obtenção de compostos ativos da própolis, bem como suas aplicações industriais a partir da elaboração de novos produtos. O termo documento de patente abrange pedidos de patente publicados ou patentes concedidas. A pesquisa foi realizada a partir de palavras-chave do tema na base de dados do Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial. O primeiro documento de patente identificado foi de 1992, tendo como o país de origem o Japão. Do universo de patentes depositadas 94% são de residentes e 6% de não residentes. Em relação à tecnologia protegida os inventores independentes são os maiores depositantes, seguida das empresas e universidades. Apesar de o Brasil ser um dos maiores exportadores mundiais da própolis, este não é considerado como um mercado atraente e competitivo para a proteção desta tecnologia por outros países.

Propolis is a product of varied consistency and colour, produced by bees from materials collected from various parts of the plants. It has a complex chemical composition, which depends on the regional flora. Therefore, there are various types of propolis, making comparison between them a difficult task. In the present study, a survey of studies with propolis from the state of Bahia, Brazil, was carried out. We identified 17 scientific papers and eight patents dealing with propolis produced in Bahia. In these works three amongst the 13 types of propolis reported in Brazil were listed. Almost all studies report the antimicrobial activity potential of propolis types 6, highlighting its low percentage of flavonoids. It was also noted that the incentive given to the production of propolis type 13 in Bahia, also known as “própolis vermelha”, is due to the overall aggregate value of this product.

The aim of this study was to determine the best processing conditions to extract Brazilian green propolis using a supercritical extraction technology. For this purpose, the influence of different parameters was evaluated such as S/F (solvent mass in relation to solute mass), percentage of co-solvent (1 and 2% ethanol), temperature (40 and 50°C) and pressure (250, 350 and 400 bar) using supercritical carbon dioxide. The Global Yield Isotherms (GYIs) were obtained through the evaluation of the yield, and the chemical composition of the extracts was also obtained in relation to the total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, antioxidant activity and 3,5-diprenyl-4-hydroxicinnamic acid (Artepillin C) and acid 4-hydroxycinnamic (p-coumaric acid). The best results were identified at 50°C, 350 bar, 1% ethanol (co-solvent) and S/F of 110. These conditions, a content of 8.93±0.01 and 0.40±0.05 g/100 g of Artepillin C and p-coumaric acid, respectively, were identified indicating the efficiency of the extraction process. Despite of low yield of the process, the extracts obtained had high contents of relevant compounds, proving the viability of the process to obtain green propolis extracts with important biological applications due to the extracts composition.