Bee Products as Functional Food

Abstract

The studies that reveal the impact of the bee products on overall health are accompanied by new researches every year, and the importance of these researches are gradually on the rise. Bee products that are used as food and food supplements and drug concentrations in the historic process are drawing the attention with their marvellous characteristic features. The search for nourishment of the body on behalf of healthy living is currently being searched by many people. Therefore, the consumption of products that protect the health appears as the primary preference of people. In the light of this recent tendency, food sector is now offering well-supported products that are suitable for this preference. At this point, bee products such as honey, pollen, bee bread, royal jelly and propolis gain importance as functional food with their nutritious features that help in protecting the health. In this article, within the consideration of the researches that evaluate bee products as functional food, we aim to introduce the prominence of bee products in our nourishment and overall health.

Detection of fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB) in bee bread and bee pollen samples and determination of their functional roles

“…Recently, bee products gained special interests with respect to their potential roles for the improvement of the immunity (Yucel et al., 2017). Bee bread and bee pollen are among the functional bee products that would contain bioactive and nutritional compounds for human consumption (Di Cagno et al., 2019; Turhan et al., 2017).…”

Dose-Dependent Impact of Bee Pollen Supplementation on Macroscopic and Microscopic Structure of Femoral Bone in Rats

“…This natural product is rich in proteins, reducing sugars, lipids, essential amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, phytosterols, and flavonoids [ 2 , 3 ]. Aforementioned components are responsible for its high nutritional value [ 4 ]. Due to the fact that other bioactive compounds are also represented (e.g., carotenoids, bioactive peptides, organic acids), having beneficial health effects, it is a useful tool for therapeutic approach as well.…”

Comparison of Physicochemical Properties of Bee Pollen with Other Bee Products

“…Medicinal importance of bee products has been known since the ancient times. Currently, the chemical profile of these products represents biological properties-anti-inflammatory, antiatherosclerotic, antimicrobic, antioxidant or anticarcinogenic activities [2,3].…”

“…Strong medical effect of this bee product originates from the richness of bioactive compounds. High amounts of phenolic acids and flavonoids-pinobanksin, quercetin, kaempferol, coumaric acid stimulate antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities [3,8]. Also, consumption of this natural product helps to facilitate symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease although honey exhibits low pH values [9].…”