No abstract

In a nanobiotechnology world with many applications in biomedicine, a novel combination of inorganic-organic materials is needed to prove a novel functionality. Natural compounds from bee pollen extract coated on magnetite nanoparticles could open up a new way in apitherapy field. Iron oxide nanoparticles have proved special requirements for biological applications like superparamagnetic properties, high biocompatibility and nontoxic material. Magnetite nanoparticles functionalized with natural bioactive substances extracted from bee pollen have been characterised and investigated for antimicrobial activity. Previous findings demonstrate that magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) and pollen ethanolic extracts (PEE) exhibited antimicrobial activity against a large antimicrobial spectrum, including Grampositive, Gram-negative and antifungal microorganisms.

Making a significant contribution to the European honey trade, Romania has been lately engaged in an exhaustive process of ensuring product conformity. Both official bodies and research groups have taken part in the efforts to establish an efficient framework for characterizing and authenticating unifloral and polyfloral honey samples produced and commercialized. Innovative contributions of different Romanian scientists to the development of simple and/or effective investigation techniques are discussed, as well as the results gained in characterizing and classifying samples according to their botanical and/ or geographical origin. Information on the honey production and commercialization in the last 25 years is also provided, as well as a sketch of the Romanian consumer profile.

Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) are excellent biosensors that can be managed to collect valuable information about environmental contamination. The main objective of the present study was to design and apply an integrative protocol to monitor honeybee colony activity and sample collection by using electronic technologies combined with classical methods in order to evaluate the exposure of honeybees to the neonicotinoids that are used in melliferous intensive crops. The monitored honeybee colonies were especially prepared and equipped to maximize their chances to collect representative samples in order to express, as well as possible, the pesticide residues that existed in the targeted crops. The samples of honey, pollen and honeybees were collected, preserved and prepared to fulfill the required quality and quantity criteria of the accredited laboratories. In total, a set of fifty samples was collected from fields, located in different areas of intensive agriculture in Romania, and was analyzed for five neonicotinoids. The obtained results show that 48% of the total analyzed samples (n = 50) contained one or more detected or quantified neonicotinoid residues. The main conclusion is that the proposed approach for sample collection and preparation could improve the evaluation methodologies for analyzing honeybees’ exposure to pesticides.