Antioxidant Activity of Frozen and Freeze-Dried Drone Brood Homogenate Regarding the Stage of Larval Development

Abstract

Drone brood is a little-known and poorly studied bee product used and valued in the treatment of many diseases, including male infertility and women’s menopausal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of drone brood depending on the stage of larval development and the method of preservation. Aqueous and ethanolic homogenate extracts of drone brood were assayed for antioxidant activity (with the DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS methods), polyphenol, and flavonoid content. The extracts’ polyphenolic profiles were compared by the HPTLC method. Drone brood has been shown to be more active in the earlier stages of development (between days 7–11), with a decline in antioxidant activity in the later period (by the 14th day). The freeze-drying process did not cause significant changes in the antioxidant activity of brood preparations converted to dry mass. Based on the higher activity of the aqueous compared to 70% ethanolic extracts, it was shown that the dominant fraction of brood consisted of hydrophilic antioxidants. The results obtained with different methods were highly correlated, excluding those from the ABTS assay. The HPTLC method showed that the polyphenol fraction of drone brood homogenate consisted mainly of phenolic acids and flavonoids. It was shown that drone brood has valuable antioxidant properties that can be compared with royal jelly.

Searching for Differences in Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Crude Drone Brood and Royal Jelly Useful for Their Authentication

“…Drone brood was more than 50% active than that of the royal jelly. Using both, DPPH and FRAP methods, the highest values were obtained for 11-day-old DB, which is in agreement with our earlier study [24].…”

“…Such observation was done for the first time. According to earlier reports, some flavonoids were expected [ 24 , 34 , 46 ] and tested (naringenin, apigenin, chrysin, sakuranetin) there are certain flavonoids: flavanones (hesperetin, naringenin), flavones (apigenin derivatives), and isoflavonoids (genistein, formononetin, coumestrol), as well as ferulic acid present in royal jelly. However, there are no polyphenol profiles available for the drone brood.…”

The Effect of Storage Time on the Antioxidant Activity and Polyphenolic Profile of Frozen and Lyophilized Drone Brood Fixed in Honey

“…However, Tomczyk et al [19] analyzed the phenolic profile of Polish honeys, showing orange, blue, yellow, and green bands in rape honey. The composition of polyphenols in drone brood was similar to that in the previous studies [14,15]. Blue bands dominated in the drone brood homogenate chromatogram, which proves the presence of ferulic acid (Rf Fig.…”

Exploring the Chemical Constituents and Nutritive Potential of Bee Drone (Apilarnil): Emphasis on Antioxidant Properties

“…The flavonoid content varied depending on the larval development stage, from 25.7 mg/ 100 g in 7-day-old larvae to 94 mg/100 g in 11-day-old larvae. [13] The flavonoid content also differed among the developmental stages of larvae, pupae, and adults, which were 5.8, 4.7, and 4.5 mg/g, respectively. [12] Sidor et al reported that the total flavonoids in apilarnil were 9.27 %, lower than the 11.3 % in royal jelly.…”

“…The ideal approach, however, is freeze-drying, which keeps the biologically active components in the drone brood for a long time. [7] Apilarnil also has biologically active substances that contribute to many pharmacological effects, such as antioxidant, [13] neuroprotective, anti-apoptotic, [14] anti-inflammatory and androgenic effects. [10,[14][15][16] According to the literature, apilarnil is very good at fighting oxidation because it has a lot of polyphenols.…”