Characterizing the Volatile and Sensory Profiles, and Sugar Content of Beeswax, Beebread, Bee Pollen, and Honey

Abstract

Bee products are a well-known remedy against numerous diseases. However, from the consumers’ perspective, it is essential to define factors that can affect their sensory acceptance. This investigation aimed to evaluate the volatile and sensory profiles, and sugar composition of beeswax, beebread, pollen, and honey. According to the HS-SPME/GC-MS results, 20 volatiles were identified in beeswax and honey, then 32 in beebread, and 33 in pollen. Alkanes were found to dominate in beeswax, beebread, and pollen, while aldehydes and monoterpenes in honey. In the case of sugars, a higher content of fructose was determined in beebread, bee pollen, and honey, whereas the highest content of glucose was assayed in beeswax. In the QDA, the highest aroma intensity characterized as honey-like and sweet was found in honey, while the acid aroma was typical of beebread. Other odor descriptors, including waxy, pungent, and plant-based aromas were noted only in beeswax, honey, and pollen, respectively.

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“…Second, 12 ORs respond to different floral, pollen and nectar aromas, such as acetophenones, ethylguaiacol, geranyl acetate or fenchone, but most importantly to benzaldehyde, a major volatile of honey (Machado et al . 2020; Starowicz et al . 2021).…”

“…These included Or13a (x2 paralogues), Or42a, Or42b/Or59b, Or43a, Or47b, Or49a/Or85f, Or67b (x4), Or74a, Or85b/Or85c, and Or85e (x2). Second, 12 ORs respond to different floral, pollen and nectar aromas, such as acetophenones, ethylguaiacol, geranyl acetate or fenchone, but most importantly to benzaldehyde, a major volatile of honey (Machado et al 2020;Starowicz et al 2021).…”

Analysis of Volatiles in Food Products

“…As said by Jeleń et al [65], the main five classes of f The SPME was introduced into numerous applications in cannabis, environmental, forensic, and food analysis. As said by Jeleń et al [65], the main five classes of food products that the SPME was implemented for aroma analysis are: beverages, dairy, fruits/vegetables, honey, meat, seafood, and wine [66][67][68][69][70]. Usage of SPME in the determination of volatile chemicals extracted from various food samples is presented in Table 2.…”

“…Sometimes authors expressed their results only as an integrated peak area, or as a percent contribution of each compound in the total amount of volatiles. This method could be used only in the case of profiling the volatiles in food samples, to determine general differences between samples [67]. The proper study of volatiles content should be carried out using an internal standard, that might be useful in the calculation of the volatiles content in the semi-quantitative way [32].…”

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“…Beeswax is a mixture of various long-chain fatty acids, alcohols, and esters with a surface energy of ~16 mJ m −2 and a melting point ranging from 62 °C to 64 °C (Zhang et al, 2014a). It is an approved food additive by EU (E901) (EC, 1995) and GRAS by US FDA (Ramos-García et al, 2012;Starowicz et al, 2021). It is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries (Rortais et al, 2021).…”