Organic Bee Pollen: Botanical Origin, Nutritional Value, Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant Activity and Microbiological Quality

Abstract

Organic bee pollen (BP, n = 22) harvested from the Douro International Natural Park (DINP, Portugal) was studied. Nine botanical families were found in the mixture of the samples. The water activity and pH ranged 0.21–0.37 and 4.3–5.2, respectively. The BP analyses averaged 67.7% carbohydrates, 21.8% crude protein, 5.2% crude fat and 2.9% ash. The energy ranged from 396.4 to 411.1 kcal/100 g. The principal fatty acid found was linolenic, followed by linoleic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid. The phenolic and flavonoid contents varied from 12.9 to 19.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of extract and from 4.5 to 7.1 mg of catechin equivalents/g of extract, respectively. The scavenger activity and β-carotene bleaching assays values (EC50) were 3.0 ± 0.7 mg/mL and 4.6 mg/mL ± 0.9 mg/mL, respectively. E. coli, sulphite-reducing Clostridia, Salmonella and S. aureus were not found. Since there are studies indicating appreciable differences among BPs from different regions, the full characterization of BP from diverse origins still appears to be a sound research priority in order to obtain reliable data about this beehive product.

Physicochemical characteristics of pollen collected by Amazonian stingless bees

“…Its composition includes proteins, lipids, fibers (MARCHINI et al, 2006), minerals (FUNARI et al, 2003), vitamins C andE andβ-carotene (ALMEIDA-MURADIAN et al, 2005;OLIVEIRA et al, 2009), free amino acids (PARAMAS et al, 2006), sugars (QIAN et al, 2008), unsaturated fatty acids (FEAS et al, 2012), and phenolic compounds (MARGHITAS et al, 2009).…”

Modulatory Activity of Bee Pollen Against the Toxicity of Antituberculosis Drugs Rifampicin and Isoniazid in Testis of Sprague Dawley Rats

“…The phenolic contents (12.9 to 19.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of extract) and flavonoid contents (4.5-7.1 mg of catechin equivalents/g of extract) were reported from the samples. About 100 g of bee pollen contained about 396.4-411.1 kcal energy [16]. Rifampicin-and isoniazid-induced toxicity and oxidative stress relationship have been reported previously [3,4,7].…”

The effects of dietary bee pollen on lipid peroxidation and fatty acids composition of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) meat under different stocking densities

“…The present study results were in agreement with results of a study related to effect on MDA activity of POL supplementation (Eraslan et al 2009). Bee products contain numerous phenolic compounds (Khalil & El-Sheikh 2012;Feas et al 2012). As a bee product pollen is a good source of healty compounds such as phenolics.…”