Screening of Plant Pollen Sources, Polyphenolic Compounds, Fatty Acids and Antioxidant/Antimicrobial Activity from Bee Pollen

Abstract

In this study, the botanical origin, total flavonoid and phenolic content, antioxidant activity, phenolic profile and fatty acid composition of mixed bee pollen loads collected in Bayburt, Turkey, were determined. In addition to these assays, antibacterial activity of bee-collected pollen extract (BCPE) against a variety of food-borne pathogenic bacteria was determined in vitro. Pollen loads were classified into five botanical families based on their color: Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Campanulaceae, Cistaceae and Rosaceae. Total flavonoid, total phenolic, CUPRAC and CERAC concentrations were 173.52 mg GAE/g, 79.21 mg QE/g, 85.59 mg Trolox/g and 118.13 mg Trolox/g, respectively. Twenty-three phenolic compounds were scanned in bee pollen extract by LC-MS/MS, with rutin being the most abundant. Cis-4,7,10,13,16,19 docosahexaenoic acid was the predominant fatty acid, followed by cis-11-eicosenoic acid, palmitic acid, and alfa linolenic acid. In addition, the agar well diffusion (AWD) and micro-broth dilution methods were used to determine of the antibacterial activity of the BCPE sample. MIC values were observed to vary between 2.5–5 mg/mL for Gram-positive bacteria and 5–10 mg/mL for Gram-negative bacteria. These findings indicate that bee pollen could be a potential source of antioxidants and antimicrobials.

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Anticancer Activity of Mono- and Polyfloral Moroccan Bee Pollen by Characterizing Phenolic and Volatile Compounds

“…Chromatographic results also revealed that Moroccan bee pollen samples contained four phenolic acids—caffeic acid ( m/z 179), caffeic acid hexoside ( m/z 341), p -coumaric acid ( m/z 163), and p -coumaric acid hexoside ( m/z 325)—at low concentrations in BP1, BP2, BP5, and BP8. Such phenolic acids have a wide distribution in the plant kingdom, and their presence has been associated with biological activities such as antiproliferative, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities [ 30 , 31 ].…”

“…Researchers agree that a single method is often not sufficient to quantify the potential activities of antioxidants, so employing antioxidant quantification assays based on different working principles is a necessary method of comprehensively evaluating the material under analysis [ 17 , 31 , 42 ]. Antioxidant results obtained from the current study demonstrated that some samples, such as BP4, BP5, BP6, and BP7, contain pollen species with potent free radical scavengers with minor reducing power activity.…”

Bee Pollen and Bread as a Super-Food: A Comparative Review of Their Metabolome Composition and Quality Assessment in the Context of Best Recovery Conditions

“…A mixture of pollen samples from different plant species collected from Bayburt, Turkey, were investigated for its phenolic and fatty acid content [ 48 ]. A total of 23 phenolics were quantified, represented by rutin (115.4 mg/kg) followed by kaempferol (9.8 mg/kg), quercetin (7.8 mg/kg), myricetin (2.2 mg/kg), and p-coumaric acid (0.5 mg/kg) [ 48 ].…”

Bee Pollen as a Functional Product – Chemical Constituents and Nutritional Properties

“…Polyphenols have great importance, because they help the human body to fight against diseases. Determining the functions of foods or dietary supplements used as antioxidants has grown crucial, especially in recent years as the prevalence of several diseases such as cancer has increased (Gercek et al, 2021). Since phenolic chemicals have been acknowledged as potentially helpful taxonomic identifiers, there have been more investigations on their characterisation in pollen (Mosić et al, 2019).…”