A suggestion for royal jelly specifications / Prijedlog globalnih standarda za matičnu mliječ

Abstract

This article proposes guidelines for quality standards of royal jelly. The proposals are based on two sets of data; the first from our study of the factors that may affect the royal jelly's chemical composition (protein and sugar supplementation of beehives) and the second on the analysis of a great number of samples from across Greece to establish natural variability of this product. We compared our findings with the adopted national limits, the proposals of the working group of the International Honey Commission (IHC), and the draft proposal of the International Organization of Standardization (ISO). The studied parameters included moisture, total proteins, sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose, total sugars), and 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA). Our results indicate that the limits for royal jelly in some countries should be amended and the proposals of the IHC and the ISO reviewed in view of recent data on variability. We believe that our proposals could be considered for setting global standards for royal jelly, as they incorporate national legislations, proposals of scientific groups, experimental data, and updated information. KEY WORDS: 10-HDA; fructose; glucose; Greece; international guidelines; IHC; ISO; moisture; national standards; sucrose; sugar; total proteins Royal jelly (RJ) is a creamy, whitish, strongly acidic secretion from the mandibular and hypopharyngeal (cephalic) glands of nurse bees (Apis mellifera). It can change an ordinary worker bee larva, which usually lives a month and a half, into a large queen bee that can live up to five years and easily lay her own weight in eggs each day. The pharmaceutical properties of RJ for humans have been extensively studied and several claims were made regarding its beneficial effects on the immune system, metabolism, vascular and glandular function, skin health, heart function, and cholesterol and lipid control (1-4). However, these claims have been contested by the European Food Safety Authority, which concluded that no relationship has been evidenced between the consumption of royal jelly and the claimed effects (5).In spite of this unfavourable opinion, RJ is still one of the most popular beehive products in many countries. Official data on the production of RJ are not available, but it is estimated that the world production is a few thousand tonnes per year (6). China alone is estimated to produce about 2,000 tonnes per year, or about 60.0 % of the global production (7). RJ is also produced in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, and the EU countries such as Spain, Greece, France, and Italy.Although RJ is a promising product with added financial value for the beekeepers, the industry is growing very slowly, and the local demand in many countries is covered Kanelis D, et al. A suggestion for royal jelly specifications Arh Hig Rada Toksikol 2015;66:275-284 by import from China. What largely discourages beekeepers from expanding their businesses is the lack of quality criteria and control of authenticity and geographical origin.Today, there are no s...

Anti-Cancer and Protective Effects of Royal Jelly for Therapy-Induced Toxicities in Malignancies

“…The content of 10-HDA in RJ is reported to be 0.8%–6.5%; moreover, it is known as a unique component of RJ because it is not detected in any other natural raw material, even in other bee products [ 11 , 22 , 38 ]. To our surprise, anti-cancer effects of 10-HDA in leukemia and ascitic tumors were first reported in approximately 60 years ago [ 39 , 40 ].…”

“…Similarly, the biological roles and composition of various fractions of RJ are affected by such factors. Indeed, RJ composition varies by countries; for examples, the percentage of 10-HDA content in Brazil tended to be higher than that in other countries, including Japan, India, Turkey and Switzerland [ 38 ]. Furthermore, although it was reported that RJ (0.5–1 mg/mL) enhanced MCF-7 cell proliferation owing to the estrogenic activities of RJ via interaction with estrogen receptor [ 86 ], other investigators did not find similar pro-carcinogenic and estrogen-like activities by RJ supplied by other manufacturers [ 25 ].…”

Determination of 10-Hydroxy-2-Decenoic Acid Content – a Marker in Several Commercial Royal Jelly Products Collected in Vietnam

“…10 Các sản phẩm chứa sữa ong chúa hiện nay như sữa ong chúa tươi, sữa ong chúa đông khô, mật ong sữa chúa ... thường ít ghi nhãn về hàm lượng 10-HDA mà chỉ ghi tỷ lệ thành phần sữa ong chúa. Một số quốc gia như Thụy sỹ, Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ, Nhật Bản, Hàn Quốc, Ấn độ, Trung Quốc đã có quy định về hàm lượng tối thiểu của 10-HDA trong sữa ong chúa tươi là 1,4% [3], với Brazil giá trị quy định này trong sữa ong chúa tươi là 2,0%, và trong sữa ong chúa đông khô là 5,0% [4], Thái Lan và Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ có quy định đối với các sản phẩm khác chứa sữa ong chúa với hàm lượng 10-HAD tối thiểu là 0,16% [5]. Việc xác định hàm lượng thành phần này trong sữa ong chúa được thực hiện tại các phòng thí nghiệm bằng phương pháp sắc kí lỏng hiệu năng cao (HPLC) hoặc phương pháp sắc kí khí (GC).…”

A review of selected bee products as potential anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral agents

“…It is produced by worker bees as a source of nutrition for larvae less than three days old and queen bees throughout their lives, it contains complex combinations of pheromones which control the honey bee colony hierarchy 101 . Royal jelly is a complex mixture of proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, sugars, lipids and vitamins 102 . Like honey, it contains several known antimicrobial compounds and several studies have shown that royal jelly, and its extracts have antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacterial and fungal sp.…”

“…The extraction process has not only a high level of waste, with one group reporting the production of 180 mg from an initial 30 g sample of royal jelly 103 , but the exact extraction method chosen dictates which compounds will be obtained. Recently there has been an effort to standardise the extraction process and classify royal jelly 102,108 and work has been carried out to show the effect, if any, that processing may have on the activity of royal jelly. A recent study has shown that lyophilisation, which allows storage and further processing of the royal jelly, did not alter its antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. pneumoniae, E.coli, K. pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, S.…”