Honey and nectar from Quillaja saponaria Mol. (Quillajaceae): botanical characterization, isolation, identification, and biological evaluation of secondary metabolites
| dc.catalogador | yvc | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Montenegro Rizzardini, Gloria | |
| dc.contributor.author | Nuñez Pizarro, Paula Alejandra | |
| dc.contributor.other | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-05-07T17:01:16Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-05-07T17:01:16Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2025-05-05T22:35:35Z | |
| dc.description | Tesis (Doctor en Ciencias de la Agricultura)--Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Honey is a natural sweet food produced by bees, revered for its distinct flavor, nutritional value, and health benefits. Beekeeping in Chile offers a diverse range of honey varieties, many of them unique. Quillay (Quillaja saponaria Molina, soapbark tree) is an endemic tree that grows in the sclerophyllous forests and matorral of central Chile standing as one of the country’s most significant melliferous species due to its high appeal to bees as a nectar source. This study focuses on the characterization and biological evaluation of honey and floral nectaries from Quillaja saponaria Mol. (Quillajaceae). The main objective was to identify a reliable chemical quality indicator of monofloral quillay honey by studying its chemical composition and linking it to its biological properties, emphasizing the antioxidant and antibacterial capacities. The evaluation of its hepatoprotective effects in vitro was also accomplish. Chilean honey samples were analyzed, in an attempt to find quillay honey. The botanical origin of honey samples was determined through the melissopalynology method, and a DNA-based method was performed to identify quillay monofloral honey. Honey samples and quillay nectaries were chemically characterized to identify the phenolic acids and flavonoids through HPLC-DAD, including measuring of total phenolic and flavonoid contents in honey samples. Also, chromatographic methods were used to isolated and identify chemical compounds from quillay honey. Finally, an evaluation of the biological properties of samples, including antioxidant capacity through oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC-FL) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria, and hepatoprotective potential in HuH-7 liver cell models was carried out. The PCR amplification confirmed the qualitative presence of Quillaja saponaria DNA in samples classified as monofloral based on melissopalynology. Monofloral quillay honey exhibited a higher total phenolic content (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) than multifloral honey. Additionally, the Spearman correlation indicates a positive and moderate association between the percentage of quillay pollen and the concentration of TPC in honey samples (R = 0.667), suggesting that phenolic content from quillay tree could contribute to the overall antioxidant capacity of this monofloral honey. The exploration and comparison of phenolic compounds in quillay nectaries and honey samples via HPLC-DAD enable us to propose chrysin and syringic acid as quality indicators for quillay monofloral honey. All honey samples demonstrated effectiveness against S. pyogenes, with a not statistically significant positive Spearman correlation (R = 0.07) between the percentage of quillay pollen and the antibacterial activity observed. In vitro assays in HuH-7 cell cultures revealed hepatoprotective effects of quillay honey extracts, linked to their ability to reduce oxidative damage induced by peroxyl radicals.The findings highlight the unique chemical and biological properties of Quillaja saponaria honey, supporting its potential as a high-value product with therapeutic applications. The research underscores the importance of integrating chemical and botanical analyses for honey authentication and characterization. Future studies are recommended to validate these findings using larger sample sizes and diverse experimental models. | |
| dc.fechaingreso.objetodigital | 2025-05-05 | |
| dc.format.extent | xiii; 112 páginas | |
| dc.fuente.origen | Autoarchivo | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.7764/tesisUC/AGR/104073 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.7764/tesisUC/AGR/104073 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/104073 | |
| dc.information.autoruc | Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal; Nuñez Pizarro, Paula Alejandra; S/I; 172555 | |
| dc.information.autoruc | Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal; Montenegro Rizzardini, Gloria; S/I; 98457 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.nota.acceso | contenido completo | |
| dc.rights | acceso abierto | |
| dc.rights.license | Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es | |
| dc.subject.ddc | 600 | |
| dc.subject.dewey | Tecnología | es_ES |
| dc.subject.ods | 03 Good health and well being | |
| dc.subject.odspa | 03 Salud y bienestar | |
| dc.title | Honey and nectar from Quillaja saponaria Mol. (Quillajaceae): botanical characterization, isolation, identification, and biological evaluation of secondary metabolites | |
| dc.type | tesis doctoral | |
| sipa.codpersvinculados | 172555 | |
| sipa.codpersvinculados | 98457 |