Sugar profile and total proteins content of fresh royal jelly.

Abstract

Royal jelly is a product on the summit of natural biosynthesis due to the combination of nutrients and specific substances contained. Water content makes up about two third of fresh royal jelly, and dry matter is composed of proteins, sugars and lipids in 90%. The main components of royal jelly are proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and minerals. The chemical composition of the royal jelly remains relatively constant when comparing between different colonies, bee breeds and variations of temperature. Sugar profile in royal jelly was determined on a HPLC system (SHIMADZU model) on an Altima Amino 100A column. Fructose content varied between 4,06 and 6,4%; glucose content between 5,07 and 8,2%. Relatively high content of sucrose was also noticed (0,8 and 3,6%). Disaccharides found in royal jelly samples (maltose and trehalose) were present in smaller amounts (mean of 0,3% for both). Total proteins content of royal jelly was determined according to Bradford method using a UV-VIS Spectrophotometer (Pharmaspech UV-1700, Shimadzu) and the results varied between 5,1 and 9 mg/ml for fresh royal jelly. One sample of lyophilized royal jelly had a high content of total proteins (19.8 mg/ml).