Searching for Differences in Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Crude Drone Brood and Royal Jelly Useful for Their Authentication.

Ewelina Sidor,Grzegorz Zaguła,Małgorzata Dżugan,Aleksandra Bocian,Michał Miłek

doi:10.3390/foods10092233

Ewelina Sidor, Grzegorz Zaguła + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10092233

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Abstract

Drone brood is a little-known bee product which is frequently considered as a male equivalent of royal jelly and is sometimes used as its adulterant. The aim of the study was to compare the chemical composition and biological activity of both bee products originated from the same apiaries (n = 3) limiting the influence of genetic and environmental factors. Moreover, for drone brood study covered testing three stages of larval development (days 7, 11, and 14). The comparison included mineral composition (ICP-OES method), protein content and protein profile (SDS-PAGE), testosterone and estradiol content (ELISA tests). HPTLC method was used to analyze of sugar, amino acids, and polyphenolic profile of drone brood and royal jelly. Moreover, their antioxidant and enzymatic properties were compared. A lot of similarities between drone brood and royal jelly were found in terms of chemical components. However, drone brood was more abundant in iron and manganese, reducing sugars and some amino acids, especially proline, tyrosine, and leucine. It contained more testosterone (especially on the 14th day) and estradiol (on the 7th day). The greatest differences in the enzymatic activities and polyphenolic profile were found. Diastase and α-glucosidase activity were found as specific enzymes of the drone brood. Similarly, ferulic and ellagic acids were characteristic for brood and were not present in royal jelly. The study showed a lot of similar features for both tested bee products, however, some specific markers which can serve to differentiate drone brood and royal jelly were found.

Highlights

Since the end of the 20th century, beehive products have been more widely used in modern medicine as a curative and preventive remedy
The optimum pH for the tested glycosidases was determined by incubating diluted samples of royal jelly or drone brood with the substrate and 0.1M citrate buffer of pH
In the first step of the study, the physicochemical properties of crude drone brood and royal jelly collected from three apiaries were determined

Summary

Introduction

Since the end of the 20th century, beehive products have been more widely used in modern medicine as a curative and preventive remedy. Pollen, royal jelly, and propolis are unique natural products, that contain balanced combinations of the most important biologically active components, which determine a wide range of their medicinal properties. Royal jelly (RJ) is a yellowish-white, creamy, acidic secretion from the mandibular and hypopharyngeal glands of young worker bees (the so-called nurses) of the Apis mellifera species [3]. It serves as the most important part of the honeybee larvae diet, including both worker and drone larvae, playing a major role in caste differentiation. This milk is fed to all larvae in the bee colony for the first three days of life, and the queen to the entire larval stage

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