Royal Jelly: Chemistry, Storage and Bioactivities

Abstract

Royal jelly (RJ) has been known for centuries, but in the last 5-6 decades its systematic production and consumption has increased. RJ is secreted by the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of worker honeybees (Apis mellifera). This thick and milky substance contains water, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, vitamins and such bio-active compounds as acetylcholine, peptides, the hormones testosterone, progesterone, prolactin, estradiol, (hydroxydecanoic acid) (HAD), adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-N1Oxide, polyphenols, flavonoids and adenosine. Because of its bioactive compounds, RJ can be considered as a functional and nutraceutical food. The main goal of this review is to summarize and update its physicochemical properties, bio-active ingredients, storage stability and shelf life. The functional properties are antioxidative activity, insulin-like action, improvement against diabetes, liver protection, antitumoral action, neurotrophic action, antibiotic effect, anti-inflammatory action and wound healing, hypotensive effect and blood regulatory actions, anti-aging effect and skin protection, effects on the reproductive system and fertility and also fortifying, tonic action and immunomodulating and anti-alergic activity. RJ may cause allergic reactions, asthma and even fatal anaphylaxis in some humans. Therefore, RJ should be orally ingested as nutreaceutical agent or food-ingredient only after an allergy test.

Post grafting time significantly influences royal jelly yield and content of macro and trace elements

“…Royal jelly is a milky substance composed of proteins, sugars, lipids, vitamins, and individual elements [5][6][7][8][9]. It can be harvested in relatively small quantities from normally built queen a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 cells [10], or commercially in comparatively larger amounts by using an artificial queen-rearing method [11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…The nutritional and therapeutic characteristics of RJ have led to its inclusion in an increasing number of food products [7,9,18,[29][30][31][32][33][34]. Royal jelly is commercially harvested at the end of the 4 th day of queen larval age [2,8,35], but there are few reports on the element content of RJ harvested before this time.…”

Useful impacts of royal jelly on reproductive sides, fertility rate and sperm traits of animals

“…This advantage is perhaps because of the existence of MRJPs in the RJ (Park et al, 2019). These properties supported the use of RJ as a well-known dietary supplement and different pharmaceuticals related to fertility disorders in human and animals (Asadi et al, 2019;Azad et al, 2018;Maghsoudlou et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2019). MRJP substances have a strong antioxidant ability because of the capability of scavenging free radical by their properties of metal chelation (Park et al, 2019).…”

“…RJ is considered one of the widely applied natural supplement products. RJ is representing a fragment of principal food source diet for honey bee larvae and having a main role in caste recognition of this species (Maghsoudlou, Mahoonak, Mohebodini, & Toldra, 2019), by dint of having unique types of proteins and phytochemicals, and is rich in secondary metabolite (Park et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2019).…”

“…The major biological components of RJ are the RJ peptides. These compounds have varied biological features such as antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, antiageing, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and antihypertensive effects, and boost the immune function (Fratini et al, 2016;Ibrahim & Kosba, 2018;Maghsoudlou et al, 2019;Moradi et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2019). It is generally supposed that the regular intake of RJ has beneficial influences on many medical disorders, for example, Alzheimer, depression, infertility, digestive problems, ageing, anaemia, stress-related ailments and weakened immune function, besides its antioxidant, antineoplastic, antibiotic and antidiarrhoeal properties (Elnagar, 2010;Zhang et al, 2019).…”