Biological and therapeutic properties of bee pollen: a review

Abstract

Natural products, including bee products, are particularly appreciated by consumers and are used for therapeutic purposes as alternative drugs. However, it is not known whether treatments with bee products are safe and how to minimise the health risks of such products. Among others, bee pollen is a natural honeybee product promoted as a valuable source of nourishing substances and energy. The health-enhancing value of bee pollen is expected due to the wide range of secondary plant metabolites (tocopherol, niacin, thiamine, biotin and folic acid, polyphenols, carotenoid pigments, phytosterols), besides enzymes and co-enzymes, contained in bee pollen. The promising reports on the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticariogenic antibacterial, antifungicidal, hepatoprotective, anti-atherosclerotic, immune enhancing potential require long-term and large cohort clinical studies. The main difficulty in the application of bee pollen in modern phytomedicine is related to the wide species-specific variation in its composition. Therefore, the variations may differently contribute to bee-pollen properties and biological activity and thus in therapeutic effects. In principle, we can unequivocally recommend bee pollen as a valuable dietary supplement. Although the bee-pollen components have potential bioactive and therapeutic properties, extensive research is required before bee pollen can be used in therapy. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Conserved chemosensory proteins in the proboscis and eyes of Lepidoptera

“…β-Carotene is an important nutrient for insects and can be obtained from pollen, which contains between 10 and 200 ppm of this compound, besides several other carotenoids 50-51. It is known that the major source of nutrition of adult Lepidoptera is nectar, which contains mainly sugar, together with small amounts of salts, amino acids and other minor compounds 52.…”

Therapeutic Properties of Bioactive Compounds from Different Honeybee Products

“…However, the chemical composition of bee pollen is highly variable, depending on plant source, geographical region, and climatic conditions, thus deeply affecting biological properties and therapeutic virtues (Denisow and Denisow-Pietrzyk, 2016). …”

Characterization of phenolic profile alterations in metal-polluted bee pollen via capillary electrophoresis

“…Considering this diverse composition, bee pollen is a nutritional supplement with a variety of properties that can be determined from the chemical nature of the compounds within bee pollen (Taha, 2015;Yang et al, 2013). One important group of compounds is polyphenols, which are directly related to the antioxidant capacity of several bee pollens (Denisow and Denisow-Pietrzyk, 2016). …”

“…The mechanisms of antiradical activity are different according to the chemical structure of each compound (Denisow and Denisow-Pietrzyk, 2016). In bee pollen, these compounds act together as antioxidants, with each contributing toward the total activity (Almaraz-Abarca et al, 2007;LeBlanc et al, 2009;Leja et al, 2007;Rzepecka-Stojko et al, 2015).…”