Characterization of Romanian Bee Pollen—An Important Nutritional Source

Abstract

Bee pollen represents an important bee product, which is produced by mixing flower pollens with nectar honey and bee’s salivary substances. It represents an important source of phenolic compounds which can have great importance for importance for prophylaxis of diseases, particularly to prevent cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, those having direct correlation with oxidative damage. The aim of this study was to characterize 24 bee pollen samples in terms of physicochemical parameters, organic acids, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, individual phenolics compounds, fatty acids, and amino acids from the Nort East region of Romania, which have not been studied until now. The bee pollen can be considered as a high protein source (the mean concentration was 22.31% d.m.) with a high energy value (390.66 kcal/100 g). The total phenolic content ranged between 4.64 and 17.93 mg GAE/g, while the total flavonoid content ranged between 4.90 and 20.45 mg QE/g. The high protein content was observed in Robinia pseudoacacia, the high content of lipids was observed in Robinia pseudoacacia pollen, the high fructose content in Prunus spp. pollen while the high F/G ratio was observed in Pinaceae spp. pollen. The high TPC was observed in Prunus spp. pollen, the high TFC was observed in Robinia pseudoacacia pollen, the high free amino acid content was observed in Pinaceae spp. pollen, and the high content of PUFA was reported in Taraxacum spp. pollen. A total of 16 amino acids (eight essential and eight non-essential amino acids) were quantified in the bee pollen samples analyzed. The total content of the amino acids determined for the bee pollen samples varied between 11.31 µg/mg and 45.99 µg/mg. Our results can indicate that the bee pollen is a rich source of protein, fatty acids, amino acids and bioactive compounds.

Fast Chromatographic Determination of Free Amino Acids in Bee Pollen

“…This treatment can result in a decrease in amino acid content [ 28 , 29 ]. PRO was the predominant amino acid in most of the samples, which concurs with previous publications [ 5 , 9 , 17 , 18 , 21 ]. When differentiating between the commercial samples and those from the apiaries, it is observed that PRO content was greater in the former, in which this was clearly the predominant amino acid.…”

“…Amino acids are responsible for a large part of the biological activity of bee pollen. They play an important role in human nutrition (e.g., in metabolism, reducing excessive body fat) [ 18 ]. They have been extensively studied in bee pollen in the last few years [ 5 , 9 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], with the primary objective of characterizing bee pollen as regards its botanical or geographical origin, or to evaluate its nutritional value.…”

“…They play an important role in human nutrition (e.g., in metabolism, reducing excessive body fat) [ 18 ]. They have been extensively studied in bee pollen in the last few years [ 5 , 9 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], with the primary objective of characterizing bee pollen as regards its botanical or geographical origin, or to evaluate its nutritional value. It should be mentioned that we have recently demonstrated the potential of amino acids as markers of the apiary of origin and harvesting period [ 5 ], which represents a significant advance in the authentication of this product.…”

The Effect of Different Drying Methods on Bioactive and Nutrition Contents of Bee Bread and Mathematical Modeling of Drying Characteristics

“…In the literature, no study could be found on the effect of the drying process on the energy value of bee products. But, Oroian et al [45] . determined the average energy value of bee pollen as 390.66 kcal, independent of the drying process, and emphasized how important bee pollen is for human nutrition.…”

Incorporation of Buckwheat Flour at Different Particle Sizes and Distinctive Doses in Wheat Flour to Manufacture an Improved Wheat Bread

“…Amino acids were identified with a GC MS-QP 2010 Plus (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) using a Zebron ZB-AAA GC column (10 m × 0.25 mm) when injection split was 1:15, carrier helium gas of 1.1 mL/min, and oven program, 30 °C/min from 110 °C to 320 °C. The MS parameters included: a source temperature of 240 °C, a scan range of 45–450 m / z , and a sampling rate of 3.5 scans/s [ 38 ].…”