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. 2025 Apr 17;16(4):423.
doi: 10.3390/insects16040423.

Assessing the Influence of Stimulatory Feeding of Bee Colonies on Mineral Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Bee Venom

Adrian Dan Rășinar  1 , Isidora Radulov  2 , Adina Berbecea  2 , Doris Floares Oarga  2 , Nicoleta Vicar  2 , Eliza Simiz  1 , Monica Dragomirescu  1 , Silvia Pătruică  1
Affiliations

Assessing the Influence of Stimulatory Feeding of Bee Colonies on Mineral Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Bee Venom

Adrian Dan Rășinar et al. Insects. .

Abstract

Bee venom is a complex natural beekeeping product, traditionally used in apitherapy, with a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties. Research on the mineral content of bee venom is limited and challenging to compare across studies due to the varying regions where they are conducted. Our study aimed to assess the mineral content of bee venom and how supplementary feeding of bee colonies with probiotic products, essential oils, as well as rapeseed and acacia nectar and pollen, affects the mineral content and antioxidant activity of the venom. The parameters analyzed included moisture, pH, dry matter, ash, impurities, and levels of macro and micro elements and antioxidant activity. The moisture content of the samples was 10-22%, and pH ranged between 5.84 to 6.41. The macro element content of the venom showed that potassium was the most abundant macro element, followed by calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Pb was identified in samples collected indicating lead pollution in the area where the hives were located in the case of the three harvests. In all samples, the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed at a concentration of 2.00 mg/mL, with sample V6 showing the maximum value of 87.05%.

Keywords: antioxidant activity; bee venom; chemical composition; nutritional factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
BeeWhisper v.5.1 collector model 2016.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pearson correlation matrix.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Principal component analysis boxplot.
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