Evaluation of the physicochemical and functional properties of Colombian bee pollen

Abstract

Objective. To establish current knowledge about Colombian bee-pollen from a point of view nutritional and functional, contributing towards creating national technical standards and the identification of chemical differentiation factors for further researches. Material and methods. One hundred ninety-six samples of dried bee pollen were collected in the center region of Colombia known as Cundi-boyacense high plateau, where nearly 90% of total bee pollen production is concentrated in this country. Performed physicochemical analyses in this study were: moisture, pH, acidity, ash, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, dietary fiber, fatty acid profile and mineral elements. Results. Bee pollen from this region had 7.7±5.2 g/100 g moisture content, and a following centesimal composition based on dry matter: ashes 2.5±0.4 g; lipids 6.90±3.5 g; proteins 23.8±3.2 g and total dietary fiber 14.5±3.5 g. The most abundant fatty acids were α-linolenic, palmitic and linoleic. Carbohydrates were the main components and fructose and glucose the most concentrated sugars. The predominant minerals assessed here were potassium, calcium and magnesium. The results were also discussed in terms of the characteristics found in Colombian bee-pollen in comparison to international regulations and findings for other varieties of commercial bee-pollen from eight different countries. Conclusions. The results found in this study suggest that bee-pollen may be used as a dietary supplement and agree with bibliographical reports and international regulations. Such characterization will enable to be proposed technical standards in line with Colombian bee-pollen properties and it is expected to improve marketing and production chain conditions.

Essential minerals and inorganic contaminants (barium, cadmium, lithium, lead and vanadium) in dried bee pollen produced in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

“…Zinc (Zn) contents were slightly lower (2.9-4.3 mg/100 g) than those found in samples collected in the same Brazilian state (3.7-8.2 mg/100 g) (Carpes et al, 2009) but were similar to those reported by Fuenmayor et al (2014) for samples from Colombia (2.6-5.3 mg/100 g). Samples 1 and 5 are "source foods" of Zn under the ANVISA classification system (Brasil, 2005;Brasil, 2012).…”

Fatty acid profiles of 20 species of monofloral bee pollen from China

“…For sunflower pollen, ALA and palmitic acid are observed to be the most abundant FAs (Nicolson & Human, 2013). For Colombian bee pollen, the most abundant FAs were ALA, palmitic acid, and LA (Fuenmayor et al, 2014). In eucalypt pollen, LA was dominant at average concentrations of 2.77-5.81 mg/g (Manning & Harvey, 2002).…”

Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Beebread – Review

“…It is expected that the content of protein in beebread be similar to bee pollen (about 23.8 g/100 g) (Fuenmayor et al, 2014), since the biochemical process induced by bees is aimed in degrading the outer layer of the pollen grain, without any damage of inner content (Zuluaga et al, 2015).…”