Determination of Biological Activities of Encapsulated Bee Venom

Bee venom is an important bee product used directly in apitherapy applications. Once harvested, bee venom crystallizes rapidly upon contact with air. Furthermore, bee venom that is not produced and stored under optimal conditions deteriorates rapidly. For this reason, there is a need for new methods that can extend the shelf life of bee venom. Encapsulation techniques are widely used to extend the shelf life of bioactive components by immobilizing them within a biocompatible biopolymer. In this study, the potential of encapsulating bee venom using ionic gelation with chitosan, a biocompatible polymer, was investigated. It was found that chitosan had a 91% encapsulation efficiency for bee venom. It has been determined that bee venom inhibits the acetylcholinesterase enzyme by 84%±2.1, whilst its total protein content is 64.2%±1.8. The antimicrobial activity of the encapsulated bee venom was evaluated against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacillus subtilis. The inhibition zones ranged from 11 to 12 mm. The results showed that the encapsulated bee venom retained its biological activity without significant loss.