A comprehensive investigation of the mineral composition of brazilian bee pollen: geographic and seasonal variations and contribution to human diet

Abstract

A composição de minerais foi investigada em 154 amostras de pólen apícola, provenientes de diferentes regiões do Brasil. A técnica de ICP OES foi utilizada para determinar Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Se e Zn, após mineralização em sistema de microondas. Utilizando parâmetros instrumentais otimizados conseguiu-se boa exatidão e precisão na determinação simultânea dos minerais. Em geral, as amostras dos estados do Nordeste apresentaram teores de minerais mais elevados e produção constante durante o ano. Os minerais Mn, Se, Cu, Zn, Fe são os que poderiam ter maior contribuição na dieta, podendo atingir 70, 37, 27, 17 e 17%, respectivamente, da ingestão dietética diária recomendada no Brasil. A análise de componentes principais mostrou que Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P e Zn podem ser usados na classificação do pólen nacional em função da origem geográfica. Os teores dos minerais variaram amplamente ao longo do ano.The mineral composition of bee pollen was investigated in 154 samples from different Brazilian regions. Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Se and Zn were determined by ICP OES after microwave mineralization. Employing optimized instrumental parameters, the method was shown to have a good precision and accuracy for the simultaneous determination of minerals. Overall, samples from the Northeastern states presented significantly higher amounts of minerals and showed constant production throughout the year. Manganese, Se, Cu, Zn and Fe were the elements that showed the greatest possible contributions to the diet, contributing with 70, 37, 27, 17 and 17%, respectively, of the Brazilian recommended daily intake. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to study geographic effects. The elements Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn were important in explaining the classification of pollen according to their geographical origin. The mineral levels varied widely during the year.

Chemical Composition and Amounts of Mineral Elements in Honeybee-Collected Pollen in Relation to Botanical Origin

“…These ranges are similar to those obtained by Stanciu et al (2012) for K, Mn, Zn, and Cu. Meanwhile, Na, Ca, Mg, and Fe tended to be higher than those obtained by Carpes et al (2009) and Morgano et al (2012). The differences among our values and the values found in other countries might be correlated to the plant growth conditions, such as: soil, irrigation water, and geographic origin.…”

“…Honeybee-collected pollen provides a rich source of easily digestible protein (Crailsheim et al, 1992;Campos et al, 1996;Serra Bonvehi and Escola Jorda, 1997;Szczęsna, 2006a;b). In addition to proteins, pollen also contains carbohydrates, fats and minerals (Orzáez Villanueva et al, 2002;Szczęsna et al, 2002;Almeida-Muradian et al, 2005;Human and Nicolson, 2006;Szczęsna, 2006a;2007;Campos et al, 2008;Carpes et al, 2009;Martins et al, 2011;Morgano et al, 2012). The chemical composition of bee-pollen showed an average of 7.40% moisture, 20.00% protein, 6.00% lipids, and 2.20% ash (Almeida-Muradian et al, 2005).…”

“…The chemical composition of bee-pollen is known to vary according to the plant species from which the pollen was collected (Szczęsna et al, 2002;2006a;Morgano et al, 2012), the geographic origin (Serra Bonvehi and Escola Jorda, 1997;Carpes et al, 2009;Martins et al, 2011;Morgano et al, 2012), the season (Szczęsna et al, 2002;Morgano et al, 2012), and the storage and storage method (Human and Nicolson, 2006;Siuda et al, 2012). Bee-pollen was involved in formulating supplementary food products because of its nutritional and therapeutic properties (Iannuzzi, 1993;Campos et al, 1996;Serra Bonvehi and Escola Jorda, 1997;Pernal and Currie, 2000;Orzáez Villanueva et al, 2002;Kacániová et al, 2012;Morgano et al, 2012). …”

Essential minerals and inorganic contaminants (barium, cadmium, lithium, lead and vanadium) in dried bee pollen produced in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

“…Statistical analysis showed significant difference in mineral content among samples, even among the 3 samples (B, C and D) collected at the same apiary. The levels of minerals may vary according to geographical and botanical origin of pollen grains (Szczêsna, 2007;Carpes et al, 2009;Morgano et al, 2012;Taha, 2015); therefore, pollen in samples collected at the same apiary may have been harvested from different flowers over the sampling period.…”

“…In this study, all 5 bee pollen samples fell into the "high content food" class and can be used as dietary sources of P by both men and women between 19 and 30 years (Brasil, 2005(Brasil, , 2012. Carpes et al (2009) have reported P contents in samples collected in Rio Grande do Sul State (Brazil) ranging from 565 and 846 mg/100 g. In a more comprehensive study using bee pollen samples from twelve Brazilian States, including Rio Grande do Sul State, Morgano et al (2012) have observed P contents between 218 and 816 mg/100 g. All samples in this study met the standard for P content (between 80 and 600 mg/100 g) set by the International Honey Comission (IHC) (Campos et al, 2008). Carpes et al (2009) for samples collected in Rio Grande do Sul State (54.0-214.9 mg/100 g); however, they were lower than the average content (183.8 mg/100 g) reported for samples from the same state analyzed by Morgano et al (2012).…”