Summary Bee pollen is a source of nutrients that are important for humans. There is growing interest in bee pollen, mainly due to consumers wishing to use natural products for a healthy diet or for their therapeutic effects. The composition of bee pollen varies according to botanical and geographical origin. The aim was to define for the first time the carbohydrate composition of bee pollen from Slovenia. A total of twenty‐eight samples of bee pollens were analysed for botanical origins and contents of water, sugars and soluble and insoluble dietary fibre. From the bee pollen samples analysed, ten were recognised as monofloral. Monosaccharides represented 96% of the sugar fraction, with ranges 13.2–27.8 g per 100 g dry weight for fructose and 10.6–28.5 g per 100 g dry weight for glucose. Levels of sucrose, maltose and melezitose were low. Total dietary fibre was 10.0–21.4 g per 100 g dry weight bee pollen, with 73–82% insoluble fibre. Bee pollen can thus provide a good source of dietary fibre. This study supports further nutritional proposals for Slovenian bee pollen.
Bee pollen can be considered as perfect food with a great nutritional value, highprotein and essential amino acid content, vitamins and minerals. It can be a sourceof healthy nutrients, but as an animal product also of harmful microbialcontaminants. The aim of our study was to determine potential health risks andbenefits of Slovenian bee pollen. We determined its i) microbiological burden:aerobic mesophilic microorganisms, yeast, molds, and coliform bacteria in CFU/g;ii) polyphenolic content: the Folin-Ciocalteu method (mgGA/g); iii) antioxidativepotential (AOP): DPPH• scavenging assay (EC50 in mgGA/L); and iv)antimicrobial activity (MIC): microdilution method on Escherichia coli, Listeriamonocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni. We analyzed 14 samples of bee pollengathered from 7 Slovenian geographical regions, from April until May 2017. Themicrobiological burden was high, with all indicator tests reaching up to 6.78log10CFU/g of bee pollen, but the number of coliform bacteria in all samples from2.00 to 4.48 log10CFU/g. The polyphenolic content and AOP of the samples wasgood, with up to 13.1 mg GA/g and as low as 2.4 mgGA/L (EC50), respectively.Interestingly, antimicrobial activity was not always in correlation withpolyphenolic content, but always strongly against E. coli, substantial against C.jejuni, and negligible against L. monocytogenes. Our results show a great healthpotential of bee pollen for human health, but also the need of bee pollen processingimprovement for its standardized quality and safety.
Bee pollen contains proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, fatty acids, vitamins, polyphenols, and mineral nutrients that make it useful as a good nutritional supplement in the human diet. It has the richest elemental composition among bee products which is not uniform and consequently varies greatly depending on botanical and geographical origin. In polyfloral and selected monofloral bee pollen samples: sweet chestnut, maple, dandelion, rapeseed, flowering ash, buckwheat, common ivy, and plantain, the concentrations of P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, Br, Rb, and Sr were determined. A non‐destructive energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry was used for elemental fingerprinting. The most abundant elements in Slovenian bee pollen are K, P, S, Ca, and Cl followed by Fe, Mn, Zn, Rb, Br, and Sr. Several statistically significant differences in the content of analysed elements were found between studied groups according to the botanical and geographical origin which can be related to soil and plant elemental composition and plant metabolism. The obtained data extend our previous chemical profiling of Slovenian bee pollen and contribute to a more precise evaluation of some essential mineral nutrients in bee pollen to cover recommended dietary allowances in human nutrition. Additionally, this work contributes to a better understanding of mineral nutrient requirements in honey bee nutrition and of the environmental and agricultural impact of this product.
Honey is a valued substance that has excellent nutritional value. However, it is a vulnerable product, with the possibility of adulteration at each stage of its production and processing, in terms of direct and indirect adulteration. The objective of this study was to determine whether feeding of honey-bee colonies with honey-bee candy results in honey adulteration. The physicochemical properties of honey samples were determined, and the ability to discriminate between authentic and adulterated honey was studied. The physicochemical properties evaluated were water and hydroxymethylfurfural content, electrical conductivity, pH value, acidity, foreign enzymes, and stable isotopes. Sensory and melissopalynological analysis were also performed on 39 honey samples. β-fructofuranosidase activity, δ 13 C (honey), difference between the δ 13 C of the honey and of its protein (i.e. Δδ 13 C) were identifi ed as the most important to discriminate between authentic and adulterated honey samples. The results of the study indicate that honey-bee feeding practices might have an infl uence on honey and its adulteration.
Vpliv krmljenja čebeljih družin na njihovo živalnost in pristnost meduČebelja družina potrebuje za svoj razvoj ustrezno prehrano. Pomanjkanje medu v brezpašnem obdobju lahko nadomestimo s krmljenjem družin s sladkornimi pogačami ali sladkorno raztopino. Krmljenje družin v brezpašnem obdobju spodbuja vzrejo zalege in pašno aktivnost družin, bolj živahna družina pa proizvede tudi več medu. Če je dodana prevelika količina krme, pa to lahko vpliva na pristnost medu, posebej ob tehniki prevešanja satja z venci krme iz plodišča v medišče. Preverjanje pristnosti medu je zelo kompleksno, na voljo ni ene same metode, na podlagi katere bi lahko zanesljivo potrdili potvorjenost medu. Cilj raziskave je bil ugotoviti, ali spomladansko krmljenje družin vpliva na njihovo živalnost in zalogo medu v plodišču ter na pristnost medu, prav tako pa tudi, ali obstaja kaka preprosta metoda za ugotavljanje pristnosti medu. Družine smo krmili s pogačami, katerim smo kot označevalnik (marker) za ugotavljanje potvorjenosti medu dodali kvasovke in modro barvilo za živila. Spremljali smo živalnost družin in količino medu v plodišču. Rezultate vsebnosti stabilnih izotopov ogljika v medu in aktivnosti tujih encimov v njem smo primerjali z rezultati vsebnosti kvasovk in barve medu (absorbanca medu, določanje vrednosti L*, a*, b* s kromometrom Minolta). Pojav kvasovk v medu in obarvan med sta očitno dober pokazatelj potvorjenosti medu, kar pa mora biti še dodatno raziskano.Ključne besede: čebelarstvo / čebelje družine / krmljenje / živalnost / med / pristnost / barva / kvasovke Influence of feeding bee colonies on colony strenght and honey authenticityFor the natural development of bee colonies, there is the need for appropriate nutrition. Lack of natural honey flow must be supplemented by feeding bee colonies with sugar syrups or candy paste. This supplementary feeding encourages brood breeding and forage activity, whereby stronger colonies collect more honey. Sugar syrups can cause honey adulteration, which is more frequent with the reversing of the brood combs with the bee food, with the combs moved from the brood chamber to the upper chamber. Authentication of honey from the standpoint of the presence of sugar syrup is very complex, because there is no single method by which honey adulteration can be reliably confirmed. Feeding the colonies in spring should result in stronger colonies and hence the collection of more honey in the brood chambers. The objective of the present study was to determine whether this has effects also on honey authenticity, and to discover a simple method for detection of honey adulteration. The colonies were fed with candy paste that had added yeast and blue dye, to provide markers for detection of honey adulteration. The strength of the colonies and quantity of honey in the brood chambers were monitored. The results of the analysis of stable isotope and activity of foreign enzymes were compared with the results of yeast quantity and colour of the honey (absorbance, L*, a*, b* parameters). Detection of yeast in the ...
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