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Review
. 2021 Feb 7;13(2):543.
doi: 10.3390/nu13020543.

Health Promoting Properties of Bee Royal Jelly: Food of the Queens

Nicolas Collazo  1 , Maria Carpena  1 , Bernabe Nuñez-Estevez  1   2 , Paz Otero  1 , Jesus Simal-Gandara  1 , Miguel A Prieto  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Health Promoting Properties of Bee Royal Jelly: Food of the Queens

Nicolas Collazo et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Royal jelly (RJ) demand is growing every year and so is the market for functional foods in general. RJ is formed by different substances, mainly carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, but also vitamins, minerals, and phenolic or volatile compounds in lower proportion. Major royal jelly proteins (MRJP) are, together with 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), key substances of RJ due to their different biological properties. In particular, 10-HDA is a unique substance in this product. RJ has been historically employed as health enhancer and is still very relevant in China due to the traditional medicine and the apitherapy. Nowadays, it is mainly consumed as a functional food or is found in supplements and other formulations for its health-beneficial properties. Within these properites, anti-lipidemic, antioxidant, antiproliferative, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiaging, and estrogenic activities have been reported for RJ or its specific components. This manuscript is aimed at reviewing the current knowledge on RJ components, their assessment in terms of authenticity, their biological activities, and related health applications.

Keywords: 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid; authenticity; biological properties; health applications; main proteins of royal jelly; royal jelly.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Royal jelly (RJ) production in royal cells inside a hive. (A) RJ production in queen cell base with worker bee larvae inside. (B) Hive for breeding honeybees and queen bees for RJ production. (C) Removal of worker larvae from royal cells. (D) Collection of RJ from the cells.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of the main parameters affecting RJ quality, adulteration techniques and measures to assess these factors and guarantee the final quality of the product.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cholesterol is converted into bile acids catalyzed by the enzyme cholesterol 7-α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1). Bile acids are then excreted or reabsorbed at the jejunum. MRJP1 upregulates the expression of CYP7A1 increasing bile acids synthesis and their excretion. In addition, MRJP1 can inhibit cholesterol and bile acid reabsorption.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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