Antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activities of bee pollen and identification of active components

Abstract

Bee pollen is a healthy honey bee product with high nutritional value and important bioactive functions. The antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activities of the extracts and different fractions (petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water fractions) of different floral sources of bee pollen were investigated. Four types of bee pollens were screened to select the bee pollen possessing the best activities and to identify its active components. The results demonstrated that the ethyl acetate fraction of camellia bee pollen had better antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activities than its extract and other fractions, and obviously better than the other three bee pollens. The ethyl acetate fraction of camellia bee pollen was analyzed by HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS. The active compounds in this fraction were identified for the first time as trisubstituted hydroxycinnamic acid spermidines with the substituents of p-coumaroyl, caffeoyl and feruloyl. Our results suggest the camellia bee pollen should be more widely consumed because of its important bioactive functions.