The content and health risk assessment of selected elements in bee pollen and propolis from Turkey

Elemental Profile of Propolis from Different Areas of Serbia

“…According to them, Se and Cd in propolis were below the detection limit, while Co and Hg were detected below 0.68 and 0.18 mg/kg, respectively. [8,13] Propolis produced by stingless bees G. thoracica, H. itama, and T. binghami contained traceable heavy metals such as Cd (0.599-0.664 μg/g), Co (0.149 -0.774 μg/g), Cr (0.884-2.74 μg/ g), Ni (0.10 -2.20 μg/g), Pb (0.195 -1.00 μg/g), and As (0.72 -4.45 μg/g). [14] In the case of Macedonian propolis, collected from four locations in southwestern Macedonia, the general trend of heavy metal contents in the propolis was: Pb > Cr > Zn > Cu � Cd.…”

“…Essential elements such as Cu, Fe, Se, and Zn can also cause toxic effects in humans and animals at concentrations above physiologically tolerable limits. Bee products are less suitable to serve as indicators for the measurement of Pb and Cd pollution due to considerable natural variation [12,13] . Therefore, the active use of propolis as a raw‐starting material for the production of medicines, cosmetic preparations, and dietary supplements for food goods and pharma formulations leads to the need to evaluate the ecological purity and safety of this apicultural product [6]…”

“…Bee products are less suitable to serve as indicators for the measurement of Pb and Cd pollution due to considerable natural variation. [12,13] Therefore, the active use of propolis as a raw-starting material for the production of medicines, cosmetic preparations, and dietary supplements for food goods and pharma formulations leads to the need to evaluate the ecological purity and safety of this apicultural product. [6] The aim of the present study was to characterize propolis samples from seven different regions of Serbia in terms of their element content and to evaluate similarities and differences between them using statistical tools.…”

Mineral composition of bee pollen and its relationship with botanical origin and harvesting period

“…Consequently, poor nutrition could affect susceptibility to disease and thus decreased the longevity. Bee pollen is an essential product for honeybee growth, and it is collected by bees from flowers and then mixed with their own secretions, nectar and regurgitated honey, to create a final product in the form of granules (Tutun et al, 2022). It is also an important nutritional supplement for the human diet due to its related compounds of high therapeutic value (Ares et al, 2018;Aylanc et al, 2021).…”

Evaluation of bee pollen from different botanical sources with elemental analysis

“…Due to urbanization, mining, industrialization, and agricultural activities, the concentration of chemicals increases and pollutes the environment (Tutun et al, 2022). Toxic elements are highly harmful to living organisms and are important environmental pollutants (Jaishankar et al, 2014).…”