Total and individual carotenoids, fatty acid composition of total lipids, and main lipid classes of 16 fresh bee-collected pollen samples from Romania were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and capillary gas chromatography with mass detection. Analyzed samples were found rich in lutein, whereas β-criptoxanthin and β-carotene were present in a wide range of amounts correlated with predominant botanical origin of the samples. High amounts of lutein were correlated with the presence of Callendula officinalis, Taraxacum officinale and Anthylis sp. The highest amount of total lipids was found in samples where pollen from Brassica sp. was predominant. Lipid classes were dominated by polyunsaturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids were determined in variable amounts. Lipid and carotenoid contents present great variability, explained by the various botanical species present in the samples.

Bee products were historically used as a therapheutic approach and in food consumption, while more recent data include important details that could validate them as food supplements due to their bioproperties, which support their future use as medicines. In this review data, data collected from bee pollen (BP) and bee bread (BB) essays will be discussed and detailed for their nutritional and health protective properties as functional foods. Dietary antioxidants intake derived from BP and BB have been associated with the prevention and clinical treatment of multiple diseases. The beneficial effects of BP and BB on health result from the presence of multiple polyphenols which possess anti-inflammatory properties, phytosterols and fatty acids, which play anticancerogenic roles, as well as polysaccharides, which stimulate immunological activity. From the main bioactivity studies with BP and BB, in vitro studies and animal experiments, the stimulation of apoptosis and the inhibition of cell proliferation in multiple cell lines could be one of the major therapeutic adjuvant effects to be explored in reducing tumor growth. Tables summarizing the main data available in this field and information about other bio-effects of BP and BB, which support the conclusions, are provided. Additionally, a discussion about the research gaps will be presented to help further experiments that complete the tree main World Health Organization (WHO) Directives of Efficiency, Safety and Quality Control for these products.

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Beebread is a product of the hive obtained from pollen collected by bees, to which they add honey,digestive enzymes and subsequently is stored in the combs. The bees transform the bee pollen in beebread by an anaerobic fermentation process.A proper hive management promotes beebread collection, aimed at marketing it for human consumption since it can be considered a valuable food supplement due to its content of a wide range of nutrients. Its value is given by the content in protein, amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, mineral salts, polyphenols and flavonoids, which depends on the botanical source of bee pollen. The nutritional and functional composition of beebread is widely reported; nevertheless, few studies on transformation processes of the pollen to improve the availability of the compounds present in this product were found. Overall, beebread is a recent collected and consumed bee product and at this stage it can be used as a food supplement.

Bee Bread samples from Romania and India were analysed by microscopy and High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array Detection (HPLC/DAD) and compared with pollen from the correspondent taxa. The quantification of sugars, fructose/glucose ratio, total phenolics and flavonoids was also carried out. From the results was possible to identify Brassica and Eucalyptus samples that present similar HPLC/DAD profiles with the respective ultraviolet (UV) identification of the main compounds as Kaempferol-3-O-glycosides and Hydrocinnamic acid derivatives. The Fructose/Glucose (F/G) ratio and the total amounts of phenolics and flavonoids was in line with the prevalence of the specie identified. These coincident fingerprints gave the identification of the samples, as was previously proposed for bee pollens. This paper relates for the first time the achievement on the taxon carried out previously only for bee pollens. It was reported for the first time that this phenolic profile remains unchanged in the case of floral pollen (hand collected), bee pollen and bee bread. Despite the biochemical transformation that occurs during the fermentation of bee bread, it seems that these phenolic compounds are not affected and remain unchanged. Also, variables such as soil and climate do not seem to influence these compounds for the kind of samples under study.

Background: vegetative diversity is based on different climate and geographical origins. In terms of beekeeping, herbal diversity is strongly correlated to the production of a wide variety of honey. Therefore, based on the existing plant diversity in each country, multiple honey varieties are produced with different health characteristics. While beekeeping potential and consumption preferences are reflected in products’ variety, this leads to an increase in the region’s economy and extensive export. In the last years, monofloral honey has gained interest from consumers and especially in the medicinal field due to the presence of phytochemicals which are directly linked to health benefits, wound healing, antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities. Scope and approach: this review aims to highlight the physicochemical properties, mineral profiles and antioxidant activities of selected monofloral honeys based on their botanical and geographical origin. Moreover, this review focuses on the intercorrelation between monofloral honey’s antioxidant compounds and in vitro and in vivo activities, focusing on the apoptosis and cell proliferation inhibition in various cell lines, with a final usage of honey as a potential therapeutic product in the fight towards reducing tumor growth. Key findings and conclusions: multiple studies have demonstrated that monofloral honeys have different physicochemical structures and bioactive compounds. Useful chemical markers to distinguish between monofloral honeys were evidenced, such as: 2-methoxybenzoic acid and trimethoxybenzoic acid are distinctive to Manuka honey while 4-methoxyphenylacetic acid is characteristic to Kanuka honey. Furthermore, resveratrol, epigallocatechin and pinostrobin are markers distinct to Sage honey, whereas carvacrol and thymol are found in Ziziphus honey. Due to their polyphenolic profile, monofloral honeys have significant antioxidant activity, as well as antidiabetic, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. It was demonstrated that Pine honey decreased the MDA and TBARS levels in liver, kidney, heart and brain tissues, whereas Malicia honey reduced the low-density lipoprotein level. Consumption of Clover, Acacia and Gelam honeys reduced the weight and adiposity, as well as trygliceride levels. Furthermore, the antiproliferative effect of chrysin, a natural flavone in Acacia honey, was demonstrated in human (A375) and murine (B16-F1) melanoma cell lines, whereas caffeic acid, a phenolic compound found in Kelulut honey, proves to be significant candidate in the chemoprevention of colon cancer. Based on these features, the use of hiney in the medicinal field (apitherapy), and the widespread usage of natural product consumption, is gaining interest by each year.

Given their beneficial effects in terms of health, the natural products, especially beehive products, have drawn the attention of consumers since long time ago. In order to guarantee the quality of these products on the market, their chemical composition needs to be analyzed. Thus, this current research had as objective the establishment of quality parameters for beehive brood food derived products: apilarnil and queen bee larvae triturate. These two products were compared with royal jelly which is the basis of brood food in the first 3 days of larval stage. The carbohydrates were determined by HPLC-IR and allowed the identification of seven carbohydrate compounds, predominantly glucose, fructose and sucrose. The lipid profile was analyzed by the Soxhlet method. The total protein content was determined by the Kjeldahl method. Free amino acids were analyzed by LC-MS. A total of 31 amino acids were identified of which nine are essential amino acids for humans.

Cyclamen species (swinebread spp.) are perennial herbaceous plants which belong to the Primulaceae family, widely used as medicinal or ornamental plants. Currently, gibberellic acid (GA3), an environmentally friendly bioregulator is widely used to enhance the productivity and phenotypic characteristics of multiple ornamental crops. A dual experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of gibberellic acid (50, 100 or 150 mg/L), on germination earliness of seeds, along with growth and ornamental quality of selected Cyclamen species. Additionally, a greenhouse experiment with long and short sunlight photoperiod was conducted to evaluate its importance in the development of Cyclamen plants. Our results indicated that under short sunlight exposure, seeds germinated earlier than those kept in long sunlight photoperiod. Plants treated with foliar applications of GA3 exhibited higher plant height, leaf area, number of leaves, root length and tuber development. Significant differences were found in germination percentage (GP), mean germination time (MGT) and seedling vigor index (SVI), within different GA3 supplementation and greenhouse sunlight intensity (short and long days). In conclusion, our study suggests that seedling vigor and ornamental quality can be increased by GA3 application, an economic strategy for enhancing germination and growth of selected Cyclamen species.