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BACKGROUND Bee pollen is considered as a treasure trove of human and animal nutrients as a result of its extensive nutritional and therapeutic properties. However, the sophisticated pollen wall can largely limit the digestibility and bioavailability of these nutrients. RESULTS An ultrasonication and high shear technique was used to break the walls of five species of bee pollen, including rape bee pollen, lotus bee pollen, camellia bee pollen, wuweizi bee pollen and apricot bee pollen. We compared the digestibilities of bee pollen with or without wall‐disruption. After in vitro and in vivo digestion, unbroken bee pollen grains were still intact and the fragments of wall‐disrupted bee pollen still remained as fragments. Mouse in vivo digestion results suggested that the wall‐disrupted bee pollen was more easily emptied from the gastrointestinal tract than unbroken bee pollen. After dynamic in vitro digestion, the digestibilities of protein and crude fat in wall‐disrupted bee pollen significantly increased to more than 80%; similarly, the release rates of amino acids and reducing sugars in all wall‐disrupted samples were almost 1.5 and 2 times as much as those of unbroken samples. CONCLUSION Based on the results obtained in the present study, we strongly recommend that bee pollen should be wall‐disrupted. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

BACKGROUNDRapeseed bee pollen has been recognized as a critical treatment for chronic non‐bacterial prostatitis (CNP) and it also can modulate gut microbiota and improve gut health. This study aimed to explore the anti‐prostatitis effects of rapeseed bee pollen with or without wall‐disruption, and to investigate the connection between this treatment and gut microbiota.RESULTSThe results reveal that rapeseed bee pollen can effectively alleviate chronic non‐bacteria prostatitis by selectively regulating gut microbiota, with higher doses and wall‐disrupted pollen showing greater efficacy. Treatment with a high dose of wall‐disrupted rapeseed bee pollen (WDH, 1.26 g kg−1 body weight) reduced prostate wet weight and prostate index by approximately 32% and 36%, respectively, nearly the levels observed in the control group. Wall‐disrupted rapeseed bee pollen treatment also reduced significantly (p < 0.05) the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐1β, and TNF‐α), as confirmed by immunofluorescence with laser scanning confocal microscope. Our results show that rapeseed bee pollen can inhibit pathogenic bacteria and enhance probiotics, particularly in the Firmicutes‐to‐Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio and the abundance of Prevotella (genus).CONCLUSIONThis is the first study to investigate the alleviation of CNP with rapeseed bee pollen through gut microbiota. These results seem to provide better understanding for the development of rapeseed bee pollen as a complementary medicine. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.