Microbiological Assessment, Nutritional Characterization and Phenolic Compounds of Bee Pollen from Mellipona mandacaia Smith, 1983

Abstract

This study aims to assess the microbiological parameters and the chemical composition of 21 samples of stingless bee pollen (Melipona mandacaia) from two regions of Bahia, Brazil (João Dourado and Uibaí), with particular emphasis on the nutritional value, total phenols and flavonoids and fatty acids composition. Regarding the microbiological quality, the studied microorganisms (moulds and yeasts, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp., psychrotrophic and sulfite-reducing Clostridia) were absent in all samples. On the other hand, the values obtained for the aerobic mesophilic microorganism ranged from 11.0 ± 1.0 to 1.32 ± 1.2 cfu·g −1 (JD samples) and from 282 ± 3.82 to 688 ± 10.1 cfu·g −1 (U samples). The nutritional parameters (moisture, ash, water activity, pH, total acidity, protein, fiber, total phenolic, flavonoids and reducing sugars) were within the stipulated by law, except for pH and moisture content, which presented superior and OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2015, 20 12526 inferior values, respectively. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (54.1%) were significantly higher than saturated (42.18%) and monounsaturated (3.71%). It was found that the bee pollen is safe from the microbiological point of view and has a good nutritional quality. The influence of the geographical origin on the assessed parameters was evident, especially concerning the fatty acid profile.

Nutrients and Heavy Metals in Flowers and Corms of the Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus L.)

“…The above data referring only to the pollenkitt fats are partially comparable with those of the literature that report the total fats of pollen including those cytoplasmic The comparison, however, shows a greater variety of fatty acids in saffron crocus, with relatively higher percentage of unsaturated, these in various types of pollen collected by bees do not exceed 66% and the corresponding ratio unsaturated/ saturated never reachs the values we found in saffron crocus [6,[16][17][18].…”

Phytochemical analysis and botanical origin of Apis mellifera bee pollen from the municipality of Canavieiras, Bahia State, Brazil

“…As a source of energy and proteins for human nutrition, it is used to produce dietary supplements in the form of tablets, capsules and granulates. Bee pollen extracts may also be prepared in the form of alcohol and aqueous extracts (FEÁS et al, 2012;KOMOSINSKA-VASSEV et al, 2015;BÁRBARA et al, 2015;ZHOU et al, 2015). Pollen is the male gametophyte of flowers.…”

Computational intelligence applied to discriminate bee pollen quality and botanical origin

“…The solutions were heated in a water bath (100°C) for 20 min, neutralized with 12 mL NaOH (10%, w/v), filtered and the volume of the flask (60 mL) was completed with distilled water. The quantification of reducing sugars was performed spectrophotometrically at 540 nm using a spectrophotometer (UV-VIS spectrometry Unicam Hekios, UK); 5) For the determination of the total lipid content, two grams of pollen were macerated with anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 , and extracted with n-hexane for about 4 h in the Soxhlet apparatus (Bárbara et al, 2015); 6) Protein content was determined from the total nitrogen using the conversion factor 6.25 (N Â 6.25), using the Kjeldahl method (230-Hjeltec Analyzer, Foss Tecator, Höganäs, Sweden); 7) The fiber percentage was determined by the official method recommended by (AOAC, 1995); 8) The total phenolic content (TPC) of the extracts was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method as described by Moreira, Dias, Pereira, and Estevinho (2008) and expressed as mg of Galic Acid equivalents per g of bee pollen (GAE/g pollen); 9) Flavonoids contents determination the aluminium chloride method was used. Total flavonoids content were expressed as mg of Quercetin equivalents per g of bee pollen (QE/g pollen); 10) The evaluation of the free radical blocking effect of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) was performed according to the methodology described by Moreira et al (2008).…”