Stability of antioxidants vitamins in bee pollen samples

This study evaluated the stability of vitamins C, E and &#946;-carotene in six samples of bee pollen after their process, and in a one-year period of storage. After the pollen's process, there was a 67.1% increase for vitamin C (p <0.05), an 18.7% loss for vitamin E and 15.6% for &#946;-carotene. Storage in freezer was the most efficient condition for the vitamins conservation; the loss in storage at room temperature (exposed or protected from light) was similar. Vitamin E appears to be better preserved during storage when compared to vitamin C and &#946;-carotene.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Validation of hplc methods for analysis of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and niacin naturally present in cereal flours

Complex B vitamins are present in some cereal foods and the ingestion of enriched products contributes to the recommended dietary intake of these micronutrients. To adapt the label of some products, it is necessary to develop and validate the analytical methods. These methods must be reliable and with enough sensitivity to analyze complex B vitamins naturally present in food at low concentration. The purpose of this work is to evaluate, with validated methods, the content of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and niacin in five cereal flours used in food industry (oat, rice, barley, corn and wheat)

Comparação de metodologias para determinação de umidade em amostras de pólen apícola desidratadas

Bee pollen moisture value is one of the quality parameters for this product. Some countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Poland and Switzerland have bee pollen regulations on quality parameters, but these are not clear regarding which method should be used for moisture determination. The aim of this paper was to compare six methods of moisture determination in dried bee pollen samples. The methods were: conventional oven at 100 °C, vacuum oven at 70 °C, desiccator with sulfuric acid, drying out process with infrared light at 85 °C, lyophilization and Karl Fisher's method. Based on the results, the best methods for moisture determination of bee pollen were the drying process with infrared and the lyophilization, since these have shown lower moisture values.O teor de umidade do pólen apícola constitui um parâmetro de qualidade para este produto. Alguns países como Argentina, Brasil, Bulgária, Polônia e Suíça têm legislação específica quanto aos parâmetros de qualidade do pólen apícola, mas não são claras quanto à recomendação do método a ser utilizado na determinação de umidade. O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar seis métodos de determinação de umidade do pólen apícola desidratado. Os métodos utilizados foram: estufa convencional a 100 °C, estufa a vácuo a 70 °C, dessecador com ácido sulfúrico, secagem por radiação infravermelha, liofilização e Karl Fisher. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, os melhores métodos para determinação de umidade do pólen apícola foram a secagem por radiação infravermelha e a liofilização, os quais apresentaram menores valores de umidade.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)"Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A diagnosis of the microbiological quality of dehydrated bee-pollen produced in Brazil

Bee-pollen is an apicultural product with potential for medical and nutritional applications; therefore, its microbiology quality should be monitored. In this context, the objective of this study was to diagnose the microbiological quality of 45 dehydrated bee-pollen samples collected from November 2011 to December 2013 in nine Brazilian States. All the samples were negative for sulphite-reducing Clostridium spores, Salmonella, coagulase-positive Staphylococcus and Escherichia coli, which are micro-organisms of public health concern. Total aerobic mesophilic micro-organism counts ranged from < 10 to 1·10 × 10 4 CFU g -1 , with psychrotroph counts ranging from < 10 to 1·12 × 10 3 CFU g -1 and total coliforms from < 10 to 2·80 × 10 3 CFU g -1 , while the values for yeasts and moulds were between < 10 to 7·67 × 10 3 CFU g -1 . According to the literature, the microbiota observed in this study were typical; however, it is important to consider that these micro-organisms may cause spoilage and diminish shelf life, reason by which quality control programs should be implemented. Significance and Impact of the Study: Contamination of bee-pollen can occur during production, collection and processing, but there are few studies of the microbiological quality of this product. Brazil is an important producer of dehydrated bee-pollen, therefore, a diagnosis of the microbiological status is important to ensure the safety of many consumers. Salmonella sp., genus Clostridium, coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli and even some yeast species are micro-organisms of public health concern and their presence must be monitored. Furthermore, the determination of spoilage micro-organisms indicates whether the production and the processing practices carried out by beekeepers and warehouses were adequate. Significance and Impact of the Study: Contamination of bee-pollen can occur during production, collection and processing, but there are few studies of the microbiological quality of this product. Brazil is an important producer of dehydrated bee-pollen, therefore, a diagnosis of the microbiological status is important to ensure the safety of many consumers. Salmonella sp., genus Clostridium, coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli and even some yeast species are micro-organisms of public health concern and their presence must be monitored. Furthermore, the determination of spoilage micro-organisms indicates whether the production and the processing practices carried out by beekeepers and warehouses were adequate.The authors are grateful to State of S~ao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for financial support (FAPESP process 2011/51741-5) and scholarship granted to Adriane Alexandre Machado de Melo (FAPESP process 2013/ 23179-6).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparação de métodos de análise para o ácido pantotênico em alimentos

The analysis of pantothenic acid in foods is routinely performed by microbiological methods, which are very tedious and take too long time of well-trained and experienced analyst. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is an alternative technique for vitamin analysis in foods. In this paper infant formulae were analyzed by HPLC and microbiological methods and the average results obtained were compared statistically. The difference between the two methods showed no statistical difference.A análise do ácido pantotênico em alimentos é realizada de forma rotineira através do método microbiológico, o qual é trabalhoso e demorado. A cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE ou HPLC) tem se mostrado um método alternativo para a análise de vitaminas em alimentos. Neste trabalho foram analisadas amostras de fórmulas infantis em pó pelos dois métodos e os resultados médios foram comparados. Através de análise estatística dos resultados observou-se que os dois métodos apresentaram-se equivalentes

Presence and stability of B complex vitamins in bee pollen using different storage conditions

This study has the objective of evaluating the stability of B complex vitamins and its vitamers, for a period of 1 year of storage. The pollen samples were stored under room temperature (with and without light) and frozen. The vitamins were quantified by HPLC with fluorescence detection. All proposed vitamins were found in the samples and the dehydration process did not interfere in vitamin content. The variations were (dry basis): 0.59–1.09 mg/100 g (B1); 1.73–2.56 (B2); 6.43–15.34 (PP) and 0.33–0.68 (B6). After 1 year of storage, it can be stated that vitamin B1 concentration remained constant, while for the others, the concentration loss was dependent on time rather than on storage conditions. All samples were considered vitamin B2 sources. The influence of the storage time in the concentrations of vitamin B6 and PP was explained mathematically, through linear regression equations of multivariate analysis

The botanical profiles of dried bee pollen loads collected by Apis mellifera (Linnaeus) in Brazil

A total of 61 dried bee pollen samples collected in four Brazilian macro-regions within 19 municipalities were analyzed to identify the sources used by Apis mellifera (L.) for pollen production and to enable a more accurate product certification. Sample preparation followed the standard methodology, including washing the pollen grains with ethanol and then with water and homogenising the sediment in a water/glycerine solution for microscopic observation. Pollen counts included at least 500 pollen grains per sample. Only six samples, presenting a unique species or pollen type comprising more than 90% of the pollen sum, were considered monofloral, including Ambrosia sp., Cecropia sp.,Eucalyptus sp., Fabaceae, Mimosa scabrella (Benth.) spp. and Schinus sp. pollen types. The most frequent pollen types of the heterofloral pollen batches, based on a counting limit of 45%, included Anadenanthera sp., Asteraceae,Brassica sp., Caesalpiniaceae, Cocos nucifera (L.) sp., Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia (Benth.) sp., Mimosa verrucosa(Benth.) sp., and Myrcia sp. pollen types. This result may be related to the great diversity of the Brazilian flora contributing to heterofloral pollen loads and honeys.</span

Phenolic profile by HPLC-MS, biological potential, and nutritional value of a promising food: Monofloral bee pollen

The objective of this study was to determine physicochemical and phenolic profiles as well the antioxidant and antimicrobial capacities of monofloral bee pollen samples from Brazil. Traditional methods were used. The phenolic profile was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The protein (10.6–33.9 g/100g), lipids (3.2–8.3 g/ 100g), ashes (2.6–3.8 g/100g), total phenolic (5.6–29.7 mg GAE/g), and total flavonoid (0.3– 19.0 mg QE/g) values were variable, even between products with the same botanical origin. The minerals analyzed were found in amounts varying between 10 mg/kg and 9.1 g/kg. Each product presented specific color parameters. Myrcia bee pollen presented the greater antioxidant capacity, and Mimosa scabrella bee pollen from Santa Catarina state was the most efficient in inhibiting bacteria and yeasts. Among the compounds identified by HPLC-MS, flavonoid 3-O-glycosides predominated. The physicochemical and phenolic profiles of each sample were distinct, and there was no pattern between monofloral products of the same pollen type.The authors are grateful to beekeepers who provided samples. MM Moreira is also grateful to FCT/MEC and FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 through the project UID/QUI/50006/2013 - POCI/01/0145/FERDER/007265.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of processing conditions on characteristics of dehydrated bee-pollen and correlation between quality parameters

The aim of the present study was to compare the physical, chemical and biological parameters and the microbiological quality of bee-pollen samples treated with different dehydration processes and to correlate the results. The samples came mainly from Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) and Eupatorium (Asteraceae) plants. The dehydration conditions of the samples influenced the L*a*b* colour parameters and the biological value. Unlike the protein and lipid content, the glucose and fructose content were unaffected. The vitamin E content (27.2 ± 0.3 μg/g, 27.5 ± 0.4 μg/g) in oven-dehydrated samples with forced air circulation was significantly lower (P < 0.05) compared with lyophilized samples (37.5 ± 0.2 g/100 g, 53.7 ± 3.9 g/100 g). Overall, the results were inconclusive for vitamin B complex, minerals and microbiological indicators. There was a positive correlation between the colour parameters L* and b* and the total phenolic content, as well as between phenolic content and the antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity. The data indicate that lyophilization might be a viable alternative to the current process, resulting in dehydrated bee-pollen with higher biological activity.The authors are grateful to State of S~ao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for financial support (FAPESP process 2011/51741- 5) and scholarship granted to AAM De-Melo (FAPESP process 2011/ 11746-8 and FAPESP process 2013/23179-6). For a scholarship granted to OM Barth from the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq, Process 304067/2013-0). To the MN Pr opolis company that supplied the samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio