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  • Physicochemical composition...
    Brena Karisa Campos de Melo; Jackeline Alves da Silva; Rhaabe Dayane da Silva Gomes; Patrícia Peixoto Custódio; Gunthineia Alves de Lira; Adriana Margarida Zanbotto Ramalho; Mônica Correia Gonçalves; Sthelio Braga da Fonseca; Adriano Henrique do Nascimento Rangel; Maria de Fátima Bezerra

    Brazilian Journal of Food Technology, 2023, Volume: 26
    Journal Article

    Abstract This work aimed to investigate the physicochemical and functional composition of bee pollen produced in different municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte/Brazil (RN) and commercial samples produced in other places. To perform these experiments, samples of dehydrated bee pollen were crushed and subjected to physicochemical evaluation, instrumental color, fatty acid profile, evaluation of the presence of bioactive compounds Total Phenolic Compounds (TPC), carotenoids and antioxidant activity (reduction of DPPH radical). The pH of the pollen samples varied from 4.55 to 5.08, the protein from 19.01% to 29.71%, and the ash from 2.44% to 4.27%. All pollen samples showed a yellowish-red hue (a* and b* positive), and the pollen produced in Touros/RN/BR stood out with a lighter color (L* = 32.91). The pollen produced in Touros/RN/BR showed a higher (p < 0.05) percentage of saturated fatty acids (41.60%), whereas the pollen collected in Taipu/RN/BR had a higher percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids (7.44%). Pollen samples showed a low concentration of Total Carotenoid Content (TCC) (0.81 to 22.82 µg/g), as well as a high content of TPC (1.79 to 2.28 mg GAE/g) and antioxidant activity (1.40 to 5.70 µmol TE/g) when compared with the consulted literature. According to the obtained results, we could infer that pollen samples from different locations showed variations in physicochemical composition, coloration, fatty acid profile, TPC and antioxidant activity which reflects the geographic diversity inherent to the production sites.