Bee pollen, one of the economic bee products, is widely known as a nutritional food with many bioactivities that depend on many such factors as bee species, plant source and biogeography. For this ...study, bee pollen was collected from
, harvested from the flowers of mimosa (
L.) in the Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The sample was extracted in methanol (MeOH) and then sequentially partitioned with hexane, dichloromethane (DCM) and MeOH in order to isolate compounds depending on their polarities. The obtained extracts were then tested for their antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activities through 1,1-diphyenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and for/through inhibition of mushroom tyrosinase extract, respectively. The DCM partitioned extract of mimosa flower bee pollen (DCMMBP) provided the highest antioxidant activity, with an effective concentration at 50% (EC
) of 192.1 μg/mL, and was further fractionated by silica gel 60 column chromatography and Sephadex LH20 size exclusion chromatography. All fractions were tested for their antioxidant activity and analyzed for the chemical structure through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The most active fraction (EC
of 121.3 μg/mL) was a mixture of compounds, but the isolated flavonoid, naringenin, had a negligible antioxidant activity. In contrast, all three partitioned extracts and pooled fractions after silica gel 60 column chromatography provided no anti-tyrosinase activity (IC
of > 500 μg/mL) and a very low percentage of tyrosinase inhibition (0–2.99 ± 3.18%), compared to kojic acid (IC
of 8.58 μg/mL and tyrosinase inhibition of 74.2 ± 1.25%).
Background: Bee pollen (BP) has a broad range of beneficial effects on health. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of BP on the oral environment, including the microbiome and ...antimicrobial peptides. Methods: C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into two groups: control and BP. The BP group was fed with a 5% BP diet for 1 month. Swabs from the oral and buccal mucosa and samples of the intestinal stool were collected. Genomic DNA was extracted and the microbiome was analyzed via 16S rRNA sequencing. Results: BP inhibited the growth of P. gingivalis at a concentration of >2.5%. The metagenomic study showed that the abundance of genus Lactococcus was significantly elevated in the oral and intestinal microbiomes of the BP group when compared to those of the control group. Significant alterations in alpha and beta diversity were observed between the oral microbiomes of the two groups. The mRNA levels of beta-defensin-2 and -3 were significantly upregulated in the buccal mucosa of the BP group. Conclusion: A BP diet may have a beneficial effect on oral and systemic health by modulating the bacterial flora and antimicrobial peptides of the oral cavity. Further investigations are needed to clarify how a BP diet affects overall human health.
Today, more than 1500 tons of bee pollen are produced per year worldwide. Despite the importance of this niche within the apiculture industry, several aspects of the bee pollen production system have ...been poorly studied. The most suitable population size for productive colonies, as well as the efficacy of carbohydrate and protein supplementation, has raised many questions and divergent conclusions are drawn in the literature. This research attempts to elucidate some questions of the bee pollen production system by measuring the bee pollen production of colonies with different population sizes and feeding treatments. Our results suggest that mid-sized (between 19,000 and 30,000 bees) colonies seem to optimize productivity and low frequency of problems of crammed grid boards. Carbohydrate supplementation should be used regularly and protein supplementation must be restricted to periods of pollen scarcity. Although this information will be helpful for beekeepers engaged in pollen production, a great number of questions concerning bee pollen production remain without the deserved scientific analysis.
Pollens used by honey bees as a primary protein source has been attracted attention due to their positive health effects. The geographical and botanical origin of honeybee pollens affect their ...nutritional value as well as bioactive and bioaccessibility properties. This study investigated the bioactive and bioaccessibility properties (total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity) of some honeybee pollens collected from different seaside regions of Turkey. Results indicated that total phenolic content, total flavonoid and total antioxidant (DPPH and CUPRAC) were between 3.9 and 9.2 mg GAE/g, 1.2–1.9 mg CAE/g sample, 1.7–17.6 mg TEAC/g and 0.68–3.04 mg TEAC/g, respectively. As for the bioaccessible fraction (IN) of collected pollens was 0.24–0.37 mg GAE/g for total phenolic, 0.01–0.08 TEAC/g for total flavonoid, 0.01–0.38 mg TEAC/g for DPPH and 0.01–0.4 mg TEAC/g for CUPRAC. Maximum recovery (%) was obtained for the sample collected from Canakkale city of Turkey for total phenolics (7.3%), total flavonoids (5.9%) and DPPH (6.6%). The results of the present study showed that bee pollen can be used as a resource of bioactive compounds in the daily diet due to the bioaccessibility properties and be added to formulation of the different food products to improve functionality.
Easily assimilated nitrogen, vitamins, fatty acids, and some minerals are some of the yeast nutrients that foster vinification processes. Additionally, some climatic, biological or cultural factors ...may induce variations in grape-must nutrient contents. The lack of easily assimilated nitrogen by Saccharomyces cereivisiae yeast has been proven to be the main cause of poor or inadequate alcoholic fermentation. On the other hand, the use of bee pollen during the alcoholic fermentation of white grape-musts has shown a positive effect on both the fermentation kinetics and the quality of final wines. Thus, it has been proposed as a nutrient-activator for the vinification of Tintilla de Rota grape-musts. In this study, the kinetics of the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation of grapes-musts/wines, yeast populations, and assimilable nitrogen consumption and physicochemical properties of the wines were monitored. The results showed an improvement in fermentation kinetics when bee pollen was present, in comparison to the control samples. Bee pollen is associated with an increment in easily assimilated nitrogen grape-must content. It was also been noticed that lower pollen doses (0.1 and 0.25 g/L) did not alter the physicochemical and color parameters of the grape-musts and the final wines. All of these facts suggest that bee pollen could be used as a beneficial activator-nutrient for some of the processes involved in the production of red wines.
In this study, microwave drying (MWD) and microwave-assisted vacuum drying (MW-VD) (500, 675 mbar) at power levels of 300, 450, 600 and 900 W, hot-air drying (HAD) and vacuum drying (VD) (300, ...500 mbar) at temperatures of 35, 50, 65 °C and freeze drying (FD) of bee-pollen were investigated in relation to its total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant vitamin composition (C and E) and antioxidant capacity. HAD at 35 °C provided similar vitamin C content as compared to fresh pollen while all other treatments led to significant loss ranging between 14.3 and 61.3%. Retention of vitamin E level in dried pollen ranged between 71 and 87%. Except vitamin C, MWD at lower power levels provided better or similar values of above mentioned properties as compared to HAD and FD treatments. The data indicated that pollen dried by MW-VD had higher antioxidant activity compared to samples dried by HAD irrespective of the applied pressure or power level.
The present study aimed to preliminary evaluate the occurrence of fungi in 40 specimens of trapped pollen collected from April-September 2015 in 40 apiaries from Tuscany (Central Italy). Cultural and ...microscopical examinations allowed the recognition of Cladosporium sp., Alternaria sp., Humicola sp. Mucoraceae and Acremonium sp. Penicillium brevicompactum, Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus flavus , Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus were also identified. Yeasts and Fusarium spp. were not isolated. All pollen specimens were positive for at least one fungal isolate. Total CFU per gram ranged from 4-568. Aspergillus and Penicillium were obtained from 8 (20%) and from 22 (55%) pollen samples, respectively, associated in 4 cases (10%). The recovery of storage fungi such as Aspergillus and Penicillium in trapped pollen presents a potential risk for human health and attention should be paid to all stages of the post-harvest process.
Lack of nutrients in grape may cause problems for a proper alcoholic fermentation process, resulting in an altered aromatic profile of the wines. To avoid this situation, commercial winemakers often ...use fermentation activators, which are usually combinations of ammonium salts, inactivated yeast and thiamine. In addition, it has been shown that bee pollen addition to the grape can help to improve fermentation, resulting in better volatile compound profile of wines responsible for sensory quality. For this reason, the aim of this research work was to carry out a comparative study using bee pollen versus commercial fermentation activators in white and red winemaking. The same dose of bee pollen and commercial activators (0.25 g/L) were used in all experiments. Volatile compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, odor activity values were determined to assess odorant impact of various volatile compound families, and finally a descriptive sensory analysis was carried out. Then, the triangular test and the ranking assay were used to identify perceptible differences as well as preference among the wines elaborated. Compared to commercial activators, bee pollen wines increased volatile compound formation, mainly higher alcohols, esters, and terpenes, enhancing fruity and floral odorant series. On the other hand, triangular test showed significant differences between wines, and the ranking assay showed a greater preference for bee pollen wines.
Aroma compounds are some of the main compounds responsible for the acceptance of oenological products such as wine, vinegar and derived products. These kinds of compounds are produced during the ...winemaking process and they can be affected by natural, geographical and human factors: raw material, alcoholic and acetic fermentation, ageing, distillation, technological processes, etc. Therefore, it is very important to study and to characterize the aromatic fraction of these oenological beverages in order to improve the quality of the final product. Therefore, this book is focused on some recent studies related to the study of the volatile composition of wine, vinegar and derived products, in many different fields of science: oenology, chemistry, food science and technology, biochemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, engineering, sensory analysis, etc., and it shows the great importance of both sensory and analytical study of oenological products aroma and how they are influenced by the different stages and conditions under which they are elaborated. In this book, you will find 12 valuable scientific contributions: 2 literature reviews and 10 original research works, which deal with the latest advances in both sensory and analytical tools in order to evaluate the effects of different techniques or winemaking stages on the oenological products’ aromas.
Bee pollen and bee bread from stationary apiaries in the southwest Polish Legnica-Glogow copper district (LGOM) were analyzed for Cr, Pb, Cd and As by ICP-AES. Their concentrations in both products ...were As > Cr > Pb > Cd. Concentrations in bee pollen were higher than in bee bread. Average Cr, Pb, As and Cd concentrations in bee products were 0.138, 0.093, 0.325, and 0.019 mg kg
, respectively. Chromium was the most problematic element in bee pollen because its concentration limit was exceeded in more than 50% of the samples. Differences in Cd level between bee pollen and bread were significant (p ≤ 0.05)
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