The influence of honey enrichment with bee pollen or bee bread on the content of selected mineral components in multifloral honey

Abstract

Bee products, such as honey, pollen, and bee bread, are an excellent source of bioactive ingredients, including minerals, having a health-supporting effect. However, due to the specific sensory properties of bee pollen and bee bread, the best way to include them in a diet is to add them to honey. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to evaluate the influence of the added bee pollen or bee bread on selected minerals content in multifloral honey. The mineral content was analyzed using absorption atomic spectrometry (FAAS) with prior dry mineralization. On the basis of obtained results, it was found that the addition of bee pollen or bee bread to honey significantly influences the content of selected macro- and microelements, excluding sodium. The greatest increase in mineral content was observed for magnesium, iron, and zinc. Enrichment of honey with the highest dose of bee pollen or bee bread resulted in an over 20-fold increase in the Mg and Fe content, and an over 14-fold increase in the Zn content. Honey enriched with the maximum addition of bee pollen was characterized by a higher content of K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Cu compared to honey with bee bread. Due to a fact that both bee pollen and bee bread are good sources of minerals, their addition to honey significantly increases its ability to cover daily demand for macro- and microelements.

The Comparison of Honey Enriched with Laboratory Fermented Pollen vs. Natural Bee Bread in Terms of Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties, Protein In Vitro Bioaccessibility, and Its Genoprotective Effect in Yeast Cells

“…According to the estimated results, adding bee bread or fermented pollen to honey can be enriched up to 10 times with selected elements, especially those classified as microelements. Multiple enrichment of honey with macroelements (K, Na, Ca, Mg) was previously confirmed by Habryka et al [10], who found the dependence of the content of these elements was on the share of the introduced additive, achieving the highest enrichment in magnesium (almost 25 times with a 25% addition of bee pollen and 20 times with a 25% addition of bee bread). In the case of the analyzed microelements (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn), the same trend was also observed, and the highest degree of enrichment was observed for iron [10].…”

“…Multiple enrichment of honey with macroelements (K, Na, Ca, Mg) was previously confirmed by Habryka et al [10], who found the dependence of the content of these elements was on the share of the introduced additive, achieving the highest enrichment in magnesium (almost 25 times with a 25% addition of bee pollen and 20 times with a 25% addition of bee bread). In the case of the analyzed microelements (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn), the same trend was also observed, and the highest degree of enrichment was observed for iron [10]. This element is particularly important for human health, it is involved in many biochemical processes, including oxygen transport through the blood, DNA synthesis, and redox reactions.…”

“…The highest increase was noted in the case of HFP4 and HFP5 samples, where the addition of fermented pollen inoculated with a starter culture obtained using milk as a medium was used, which may also have a significant impact on the tested parameters. Habryka et al [10] showed that the addition of pollen and bee bread proportionally increases the ash content of honey. Literature data indicate that both parameters are also strongly correlated with each other [30].…”

“…Earlier studies of honeys with the addition of bee bread showed that it is a product with high antioxidant activity, containing an increased content of phenolic acids and flavonoids [9]. A significant effect of enrichment with bee bread was also shown by the physicochemical parameters of honey and the content of minerals, which means that such a product can be a valuable source of micro and macroelements in the human diet [10], remembering the crucial role of some microelements (i.e., Zn and Fe) present in some wild species that are important to man [11,12]. Bee bread is also rich in protein (approx.…”

Exploring Consumers’ Preferences and Attitudes to Honey: Generation Approach in Slovakia

“…Based on the above, it can be concluded that flavoured honey is an increasingly popular product among consumers. Enriching honey with other healthy ingredients, such as spices, herbs, dried fruits, pollen, propolis, coumarin and spirulina, can be considered novel innovative food products [20,40,[74][75][76].…”