Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Apr 27;18(5):921.
doi: 10.3390/ijms18050921.

Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Mono- and Heterofloral Bee Pollen of Different Geographical Origins

Jucilene Silva Araújo  1 , Emerson Dechechi Chambó  2 , Maria Angélica Pereira de Carvalho Costa  3 , Samira Maria Peixoto Cavalcante da Silva  4 , Carlos Alfredo Lopes de Carvalho  5 , Leticia M Estevinho  6   7
Affiliations

Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Mono- and Heterofloral Bee Pollen of Different Geographical Origins

Jucilene Silva Araújo et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Recent research shows variations in pollen chemical constituents and, consequently, in their therapeutic properties. Mono and multifloral bee pollen extracts were investigated for antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activity properties, phenolic compounds and fatty acid composition. Generally, Eucalyptus spp. and multifloral extracts exhibited potent inhibitory activity against α-amylase, acetylcholinesterase, tyrosinase, lipoxygenase, lipase and hyaluronidase. On the other hand, Miconia spp. demonstrated higher antihemolytic activity. Cocos nucifera and Miconia spp. extracts exhibited important antioxidant properties in the different assays (ABTS, DPPH, β-carotene/linoleic acid and reducing power). Moreover, these extracts had greater amounts of total phenols and flavonoids in comparison to others. The increase in antioxidant activity (decrease in EC50 values) was accompanied by an increase in the amount of total phenols in the extracts. The pollen extracts contained linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid as major fatty acids, followed by palmitic acid, and oleic acid. In this study, differences were observed in both chemical constituents and biological activities of the samples related to the geographical and botanical origin of bee pollen.

Keywords: antioxidant; enzyme inhibitory; fatty acid; phenolic content.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Regression equations estimated for the four evaluation methods of the antioxidant activity in relation to the amounts of total phenols. (1) y = −0.0965x + 8.4587 (R2 = 57%, p < 0.01); (2) y = −0.1429x + 13.5332 (R2 = 82%, p < 0.01); (3) y = −0.1294x + 10.7458 (R2 = 76%, p < 0.01); (4) y = −0.1539x + 13.2256 (R2 = 79%, p < 0.01).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Concentration of total phenolics and flavonoids of the bee pollen extracts (mean ± SD). Different letters represent significant differences (p < 0.05). Phenols are expressed as mg gallic acid equivalents/g extract (GAE/g extract); while flavonoids are expressed as mg quercetin equivalents/g extract (QE/g extract). Extracts: S1—Cocos nucifera; S2—Cocos nucifera; S3—Miconia spp.; S4—Miconia spp.; S5—Miconia spp; S6—Spondias spp.; S7—Myrcia spp.; S8—Eucalyptus spp.; S9—Eucalyptus spp.
Figure 3
Figure 3
PCA biplots of total phenolic and flavonoid, enzyme inhibitory and antioxidant activities. The bottom and left-hand scale regard the bee pollen extract, while the top and right-hand scale are for the variables. PC1 and PC2: 80% and 11%, respectively, of proportion explained.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Campos M.G.R., Frigerio C., Lopes J., Bogdanov S. What is the future of bee-pollen? J. ApiProd. ApiMed. Sci. 2010;2:131–144. doi: 10.3896/IBRA.4.02.4.01. - DOI
    1. Estevinho L.M., Rodrigues S., Pereira A.P., Féas X. Portuguese bee pollen: Palynological study, nutritional and microbiological evaluation. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 2012;47:429–435. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2011.02859.x. - DOI
    1. Nogueira C., Iglesias A., Feás X., Estevinho L.M. Commercial bee pollen with different geographical origins: A comprehensive approach. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012;13:11173–11187. doi: 10.3390/ijms130911173. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Daoud A., Malika D., Bakari S., Hfaiedh N., Mnafgui K., Kadri A., Gharsallah N. Assessment of polyphenol composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of various extracts of Date Palm Pollen (DPP) from two Tunisian cultivars. Arabian J. Chem. 2015 doi: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2015.07.014. in press. - DOI
    1. Reis L.C.B., de Souza C.O., da Silva J.B.A., Martins A.C., Nunes I.L., Druzian J.I. Active biocomposites of cassava starch: The effect of yerba mate extract andmango pulp as antioxidant additives on the properties and the stability of a packaged product. Food Bioprod. Process. 2015;94:382–391. doi: 10.1016/j.fbp.2014.05.004. - DOI

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources