Fatty acid profiles of 20 species of monofloral bee pollen from China

Abstract

Fatty acids are important nutrients contained in bee pollen and vary greatly depending on the floral species. In this study, 20 species of monofloral bee pollen from China were collected to analyze fatty acid composition. Fatty acids were identified and quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitor (GC-MS/SIM) and compared with reference standards of 37 fatty acid methyl esters. Our results reveal that in virtually all bee pollen samples, a broad variety of fatty acids ranging from 11 to 20 types were identified. Palmitic acid, stearic acid, α-linolenic acid, linoleic acid, eicosenoic acid and erucic acid occurred in all bee pollen samples. In addition, the presence of nervonic acid in bee pollen is a novel finding, with an average level of 0.21 mg/g. Perfil de ácidos grasos en 20 especies de polen monofloral de abejas de ChinaLos ácidos grasos presentes en el polen de abeja son un nutriente importante cuya composició n varía dependiendo de las especies florales. En este estudio, se analizó la composició n en ácidos grasos de 20 especies de polen monofloral de abeja china. Los ácidos grasos fueron identificados y cuantificados usando la técnica de cromatografía de gases-espectrometría de masas con monitoreo de iones seleccionados (GC-MS/SIM por sus siglas en inglés) y comparados con estándares de referencia de 37 metil ésteres de ácidos grasos. Nuestros resultados revelan que se identificaron, virtualmente en todas las muestras de polen de abeja, una gran variedad de ácidos grasos, que van desde los 11 hasta los 20 tipos. Los ácidos palmítico, esteárico, α-linoleico, linoleico, eicosenoico y docosenoico se observaron en todas las muestras de polen de abeja. Además, la presencia del ácido nervó nico en el polen de abeja es un nuevo descubrimiento, con un nivel medio de 0,21 mg/g.

Harvest Season Significantly Influences the Fatty Acid Composition of Bee Pollen

“…The high concentrations of stearic acid and arachidic acid measured in bee pollen collected during autumn and spring were related to the relative abundances of summer squash-harvested pollen in these seasons; summer squash has been reported as a rich source of these acids [20], and this factor may explain the strong positive correlation (r = 0.79) observed between stearic acid and arachidic acid. The stearic acid and arachidic acid concentrations in the tested samples were relatively similar to the corresponding concentrations measured in bee pollen collected from Saudi Arabia [20] and Serbia [27] but were higher than the corresponding concentrations measured in bee pollen from Poland, Korea [17], China [17,56], and Turkey [22].…”

“…The high concentrations of oleic acid, palmitic acid, and linolenic acid in bee pollen harvested during spring, summer, and winter were related to the relative abundances of pollen collected from date palm, rapeseed, and sunflower plants during spring and winter and to the large amounts of alfalfa and sunflower pollen collected during summer. Alfalfa [20], date palm [20,55], rapeseed, and sunflower [20,27,56] have been reported to be rich in the previously listed FAs. Moreover, the lower concentration of oleic acid measured in bee pollen collected from summer squash [20] led to the lower oleic acid contents measured in the autumn-harvested bee pollen, which contained a large proportion of pollen collected from summer squash plants.…”

Bee Pollen Role in Red Winemaking: Volatile Compounds and Sensory Characteristics of Tintilla de Rota Warm Climate Red Wines

“…Bee pollen is a natural product with a rich composition mainly composed by proteins, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates, but also of amino acids, fatty acids, sterols, phospholipids, carotenoids and polyphenols [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Amores-Arrocha et al [ 20 , 21 ] stated bee pollen as a “Green nutrient activator”, as they observed improvements in fermentation kinetics (increased fermentation rate, reduction of the yeast lag phase and increased cell multiplication), both in white and red winemaking processes, although its use is currently not legally authorized for industrial processing.…”

Botanical origin, microbiological quality and physicochemical composition of the Melipona scutellaris pot-pollen (“samburá”) from Bahia (Brazil) Region

“…There is variability in fatty acids of pollen samples stored by bees. Other authors evaluated the dehydrated pollen of M. mandacaia and commercial pollen of A. mellifera in an agro-industrial area and identified linoleic acid (C18:2D6) as the most abundant among the PUFAs (Dong et al, 2016;Santa-B arbara et al, 2015).…”