Abstract
Palynological spectrum, proximate and fatty acid (FA) composition of eight bee bread samples of different botanical origins were examined and significant variations were observed. The samples were all identified as monofloral, namely Castanea sativa (94.4%), Trifolium spp. (85.6%), Gossypium hirsutum (66.2%), Citrus spp. (61.4%) and Helianthus annuus (45.4%). Each had moisture content between 11.4 and 15.9%, ash between 1.9 and 2.54%, fat between 5.9 and 11.5%, and protein between 14.8 and 24.3%. A total of 37 FAs were determined with most abundant being (9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadeca-9,12,15-trienoic, (9Z,12Z)- -octadeca-9,12-dienoic, hexadecanoic, (Z)-octadec-9-enoic, (Z)-icos-11-enoic and octadecanoic acids. Among all, cotton bee bread contained the highest level of ω-3 FAs, i.e. 41.3%. Unsaturated to saturated FA ratio ranged between 1.38 and 2.39, indicating that the bee bread can be a good source of unsaturated FAs.
Highlights
Pollen and nectar are essential components of honeybee, Apis mellifera L., diet
Botanical origin of the bee bread samples was identified by pollen analysis
Preferred or readily available plants for the bees as pollen source are present in the bee bread samples, whereas others can be found in smaller amounts as a result of selective low preference
Summary
While pollen supplies protein, lipid and vitamins. Pollen collected by foraging worker bees is combined with honeybee secretions [1]. The methods employed for quantification of nutritional dissimilarities amongst the levels of hive-stored and collected pollen have been proven difficult. There is a limited number of studies in the literature regarding the nutritional properties attributed to the stored pollen. The scientific studies revealed various beneficial therapeutic and nutritional properties of the bee pollen and enabled the scientists to identify its antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiradical, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activities [3]. The main constituents of the bee pollen are carbohydrates (13–55 %), crude proteins (10–40 %), crude fibre (0.3–20 %) and lipids (1–10 %) [4,5,6]
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