Monofloral and polyfloral bee pollens: Comparative evaluation of their phenolics and bioactivity profiles

• Published in: Food science & technology Vol. 142; p. 110973
• Main Authors: Alimoglu, Gunce, Guzelmeric, Etil, Yuksel, Parla Isil, Celik, Cansel, Deniz, Inci, Yesilada, Erdem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2021
• Subjects: Antimicrobial activity; Antioxidant activity; Bee pollen; High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC); Antimicrobial activity; High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); Bee pollen; High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC); Antioxidant activity
• ISSN: 0023-6438; 1096-1127
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lwt.2021.110973

Botanical origin of a bee pollen sample is frequently determined by palynological analysis which also enables classification of the bee pollen samples as monofloral and polyfloral. Nevertheless, palynological analysis does not give an insight on its chemical composition and thus its potential therapeutic activities. In this study, the relationship between the botanical origins, chemical compositions and biological activities of bee pollen samples were comparatively investigated. Firstly, bee pollen samples (PO1-11) were examined by palynological method and 5 of them were grouped as monofloral, and the rest was grouped as polyfloral bee pollen. Then, HPTLC analysis was performed for fingerprinting of the phenolic compounds and caffeic acid, isoquercitrin, galangin and chrysin were found the common phenolic components in the bee pollen samples, and these were assigned as “key markers”. Then, a newly developed and validated HPLC method was applied to quantify these key markers in the samples. Furthermore, their total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were comparatively studied. Bioactivity of bee pollen samples were assessed by in-vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity tests. A polyfloral bee pollen sample (PO2) was found to exert the highest antioxidant activity. Besides, PO2 and PO9 (polyfloral) showed the highest antimicrobial activity.
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•Floral origins of different bee pollens were assessed by palynological analysis.•HPTLC fingerprints were used to characterize mono/polyfloral bee pollens.•Marker compounds were quantified by a validated HPLC method.•A polyfloral bee pollen showed the highest antioxidant and antimicrobial activity.