Cláudia Souza MacêdoSilva, Thais Helena Fonseca da2025-07-162025-07-162025-07-11SILVA, Thais Helena Fonseca da. Avaliação in vitro de atividades biológicas da apitoxina coletada de Apis mellifera no agreste do RN. 2025. 28f. Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (Graduação em Engenharia Agronômica) – Unidade Acadêmica Especializada em Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Macaíba, 2025.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/64388Apis mellifera, a social bee belonging to the order Hymenoptera and family Apidae, is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, and stands out for its significant role in the pollination of agricultural crops as well as in the production of honey, beeswax, propolis, and apitoxin. The latter is a complex chemical substance composed of proteins and peptides with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, and other biological properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant and antitumor potential of aqueous samples of apitoxin at different concentrations using in vitro methodologies. Initially, the total phenolic content was quantified. Subsequently, biochemical assays were performed to assess antioxidant potential through two spectrophotometric methods: Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) and DPPH radical scavenging activity. These assays aimed to elucidate the possible mechanisms by which the bioactive compounds present in apitoxin contribute to the maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis. Cell viability assays (MTT) were also conducted using L929 (murine fibroblast) and HeLa (human cervical cancer) cell lines to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the apitoxin samples. The results revealed that the apitoxin contained phenolic compounds at a concentration of 21.72 mg GAE/g of sample and exhibited excellent antioxidant activity, with values of 98 mg AAE/g (TAC) and 54.2% radical scavenging activity in the DPPH assay. In the L929 cell line, no cytotoxic effects were observed at the concentrations tested, indicating cellular safety. In contrast, HeLa cells exposed to a concentration of 0.1 μg/mL showed a 92.9% reduction in MTT, significantly affecting cell viability. Taken together, the in vitro results suggest that apitoxin, at specific concentrations, is a promising biomolecule with remarkable antioxidant properties, reinforcing its potential application in apicultural biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry.pt-BRAttribution 3.0 Brazilhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/br/HymenopteraAtividade antioxidanteCompostos fenólicosHeLaL929bachelorThesisCIENCIAS AGRARIAS