Antioxidant Activity of Frozen and Freeze-Dried Drone Brood Homogenate Regarding the Stage of Larval Development.

Ewelina Sidor,Monika Tomczyk,Małgorzata Dżugan,Michał Miłek

doi:10.3390/antiox10050639

Abstract

Drone brood is a little-known and poorly studied bee product used and valued in the treatment of many diseases, including male infertility and women’s menopausal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of drone brood depending on the stage of larval development and the method of preservation. Aqueous and ethanolic homogenate extracts of drone brood were assayed for antioxidant activity (with the DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS methods), polyphenol, and flavonoid content. The extracts’ polyphenolic profiles were compared by the HPTLC method. Drone brood has been shown to be more active in the earlier stages of development (between days 7–11), with a decline in antioxidant activity in the later period (by the 14th day). The freeze-drying process did not cause significant changes in the antioxidant activity of brood preparations converted to dry mass. Based on the higher activity of the aqueous compared to 70% ethanolic extracts, it was shown that the dominant fraction of brood consisted of hydrophilic antioxidants. The results obtained with different methods were highly correlated, excluding those from the ABTS assay. The HPTLC method showed that the polyphenol fraction of drone brood homogenate consisted mainly of phenolic acids and flavonoids. It was shown that drone brood has valuable antioxidant properties that can be compared with royal jelly.

Highlights

IntroductionLess commonly called drone milk, is a little-known bee product that is often disregarded in articles relating to beekeeping products [1,2,3] or marginalized with a brief mention [4]
In the first step of the study, the antioxidant activity of extracts obtained from frozen drone brood samples was measured with the DPPH, ABTS, and ferric reducing antioxidant powder (FRAP) methods
The study confirmed that the antioxidant potential of drone brood homogenate depends on the stage of larval development

Summary

Introduction

Less commonly called drone milk, is a little-known bee product that is often disregarded in articles relating to beekeeping products [1,2,3] or marginalized with a brief mention [4]. Raw drone brood homogenate obtained by mechanical homogenization of drone larvae is a milky substance with a creamy consistency, ranging in color from white or yellow to green [5] It is one of the bee products not widely known in Europe (except Romania and Russia) but recognized and frequently used as a natural medicine in some countries in the world, such as China, Zambia, Senegal, and Ecuador [6]

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