Bee bread - perspective source of bioactive compounds for future

Leonora Adamchuk,Jana Petrová,Miroslava Kačániová,Serhii Velychko,Jana Hutková,Helena Frančáková,Eva Ivanišová,Zuzana Schubertová,Janette Musilová,Valeryii Brovarskyi

doi:10.5219/558

Abstract

Bee bread is product with long history used mainly in folk medicine. Nowadays, bee bread is growing in commercial interest due to its high nutritional properties. The objective of this study was to determine biological activity of ethanolic extract of bee bread obtained from selected region of Ukraine - Poltava oblast, Kirovohrad oblast, Vinnica oblast, Kyiv oblast, Dnepropetrovsk oblast. The antioxidant activity was measured with the radical scavenging assays using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical as well as phosphomolybdenum assay. Total polyphenol content was determined with Folin-Ciocalteau reagent and total flavonoid content by aluminium-chloride method. Secondary was also evaluated antimicrobial activity in bee bread samples with disc diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentrations. Antioxidant activity expressed as mg TEAC per g of dry weight (Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity) was the highest in bee bread from Poltava oblast in DPPH and also phosphomolybdenum method. Samples of bee bread contained high levels of total polyphenols (12.36 - 18.24 mg GAE - gallic acid equivalent per g of dry weight) and flavonoids (13.56 - 18.24 μg QE - quercetin equivalent per g of dry weight) with the best values of bee bread from Poltava oblast. An elevated level of antioxidant potential in the bee bread determines its biological properties, which conditioned of the biological active substances. The best antibacterial activity of bee bred with disc diffusion method was found against Bacillus thuringiensis CCM 19. The antibacterial activity inhibited by the bee bread extract in the present study indicate that best minimal inhibition concentration was against bacteria Escherichia coli CCM 3988 and Salmonella enterica subs. enterica CCM 3807.

Highlights

Bee bread is a product of the hive obtained from pollen collected by bees, to which they added honey and digestive enzymes and subsequently stored in the combs, starting a lactic fermentation which gives it greater power conservation (Zuluaga et al, 2015)
The process of bee bread formation starts with gathering of pollen, a bee mixes it with flower nectar or honey and saliva, and carries to the beehive, where non flying bees fill the mixture into honeycomb cells for 3⁄4 of the cell volume
Bee bread differs from pollen by lower pH (3.8 – 4.3), it contains less proteins and fats, but more carbohydrates and lactic acid

Summary

Introduction

Bee bread is a product of the hive obtained from pollen collected by bees, to which they added honey and digestive enzymes and subsequently stored in the combs, starting a lactic fermentation which gives it greater power conservation (Zuluaga et al, 2015). Bee bread has a better bioavailability because the walls of pollen, which cannot be destructed by gastrointestinal liquids, have been partly destructed by fermentation and the functionally and energetically rich content of pollen can be assimilated and used easier (Mizrahi and Lensky, 1997; FatrcováŠramková et al, 2010). Bee bread has a better bioavailability because the walls of pollen, which cannot be destructed by gastrointestinal liquids, have been partly destructed by fermentation and the functionally and energetically rich content of pollen can be assimilated and used easier (Mizrahi and Lensky, 1997). It stimulates protective forces of a human body, normalizes metabolism, has a positive influence on the liver, nervous and endocrine system functions, and enhances regeneration of tissues, physical and mental persistence of a human body (Bogdanov, 2015)

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