• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.40 no.5
• /
• pp.955-964
• /
• 2023

Bee pollen is a valuable apitherapeutic product and has been known to have diverse biological activities, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and even anticancer activity. However, its effect on the immune system is not well studied and is rather controversial. This study intended to elucidate the biological activity of bee pollen on immunity. For this purpose, we used lyophilized bee pollen after wet grinding, which shows increased extraction of bioactive components and enhanced biological activity. First, lyophilized bee pollen after wet grinding significantly increased the proliferation of splenocytes isolated from normal mice. On the other hand, lyophilized bee pollen after wet grinding dose-dependently reversed splenocyte proliferation by concanavalin A or lipopolysaccharide. To clarify the activity of bee pollen on immunity lyophilized bee pollen after wet grinding was administered daily to mice for five weeks and isolated splenocytes. In this study, there was no significant difference in the population of immune cells and the size of spleen between bee pollen- and sterile water-treated groups. However, proliferation of splenocyte isolated from bee pollen-administered animals was boosted by both concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharide. Finally, kaempferol, a well-known flavonoid from bee pollen, dose-dependently increased splenocyte proliferation by both Con A and LPS. On the other hand, naringenin, another flavonoid in the bee pollen, dose-dependently inhibited the proliferation of splenocytes by Con A and LPS. Together, these data indicate that bee pollen may be able to prime the immunity to boost immune reaction after inflammation.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.465-471
• /
• 2018

Bee pollen is one of many types of alternative remedies, and it has been used for a long time throughout the world. It has numerous health effects, including antifungal, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties, immune modulation, enhanced cell proliferation, and even anti-carcinogenic effects. This study was designed to elucidate the effects of bee pollen on benign prostatic hyperplasia in rodents. For this experiment, we used nano-sized bee pollen produced through wet-grinding technology, thereby the extraction efficiency of the active ingredients in the bee pollen was significantly enhanced. First, We found that nano-sized bee pollen significantly reduced the size of prostates enlarged by chronic testosterone administration. In addition, nano-sized bee pollen significantly reduced the plasma concentration of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Interestingly, nano-sized bee pollen did not reduce the testosterone-induced increase in the plasma concentration of prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$). The beneficial effects of nano-sized bee pollen in reducing both the size of the prostate and the plasma concentration of PSA was comparable to that of dutasteride. Finally, nano-sized bee pollen did not cause damage in LNCaP cells which are androgen-sensitive human prostate adenocarcinoma cells. Together, these data indicate that nano-sized bee pollen may be able to be used as a good alternative remedy for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.43-47
• /
• 2013

Objectives: We investigated the effects of Korean gastrodia and bee pollen on testosterone production in Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods: This study measured the body weight, consumption of food and water, and serum testosterone concentration in SD rats fed for four weeks with gastrodia and bee pollen. Results: The average body weights after four weeks were $375{\pm}2g$ for the control group, $358{\pm}3g$ for gastrodia consumption, and $354{\pm}2g$ and $367{\pm}8g$ for acorn pollen and Siberian gooseberry pollen, respectively. The average food consumption in SD rats over the four weeks in the control was 23.6 g for gastrodia consumption, 24.3 g and 24.9 g for acorn pollen and Siberian gooseberry pollen, respectively. The average water consumption over the four weeks was 38.33 ml in the control group, 35.0 ml for gastrodia treatment, and 33.3 ml and 33.3 ml for acorn pollen and Siberian gooseberry pollen treatment, respectively. The testosterone secretion levels in the serum of male rats were increased by gastrodia, acorn pollen, and Siberian gooseberry pollen (2.68, 3.00, and 3.28 pg/ml, respectively) compared to the control group (2.23 pg/ml). Conclusions: These results suggest that gastrodia or bee pollen may be developed as a complementary medicine to improve sexual hormone production.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.26-32
• /
• 2020

Background: Pollen is an important source of protein and lipids for many animals including honey bees. In order to understand the foraging behaviour of honey bee colonies and preference among the available floral resources, pollen collections from three experimental healthy colonies of honey bees were analysed in the month of June. Results: The amount of pollen collections were related to the colony's need which was indicated by the number of larval and adult bees present in the hive. Interesting was the sequence of pollen collection from different floral sources. All honey bee colonies collected pollens from Trifolium repens first, then Erigeron annus and the third choice was Coreopsis drummondii and Oenothera biennis flowers. Total protein content of Trifolium pollen was the highest (20.0 g/100 g DM), and the others were in the range of 8.9-11.4 g/100 g DM. Conclusion: The results indicated that the first criteria for honey bee foraging preference of pollens would be the nutritional contents of protein and the resource availability of the lesser nutritious floral sources. This information can help pollinator protection programmes of habitat manipulation using flowering plants for nectar and pollen sources.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.306-312
• /
• 2022

To test bee pollen as an ingredient for heat-processed foods, bee pollen was puffed under heat at various pressures and examined for its physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities. As the puffing intensity increased, the browning index, total reducing capacity, and DPPH radical scavenging activity of the bee pollen increased significantly (p<0.001). This was attributed to the formation of Maillard reaction products during the puffing process. The wheat flour-puff yeot-gangjeong added with puffed bee pollen showed significantly (p<0.01) higher antioxidant activities than its counterpart with raw bee pollen. In addition, the gangjeong retained the physicochemical characteristics of the puffed bee pollen such as color, soluble solids, titratable acidity, and pH. The results showed that the puffed bee pollen could potentially be used as an ingredient in thermally processed foods and retain its superior antioxidant properties.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.423-433
• /
• 2014

In this study, the nutritional and storage quality of meatballs formulated with different levels (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0%) of bee pollen were investigated during storage at $41^{\circ}C$ for 9 d. Protein content of meatballs increased, while moisture content decreased with increased pollen. The addition of pollen improved cooking loss but decreased the redness (Hunter a value) and sensory scores. Textural parameters (hardness, springsness, gumminess, and chewiness) were affected by pollen addition and the hardness and gumminess values of meatballs decreased as the pollen content increased. While C18:0 content of meatballs slightly decreased with pollen addition, C18:2n-6c, C18:3n-3, C20:5n-3, and PUFA contents increased. The PUFA/saturated fatty acids (P/S) ratio increased from 0.05 in the control to 0.09 in meatballs with 6.0% pollen. The n-6/n-3 ratio decreased from 11.84 in the control to 3.65 in the meatballs with 6.0% pollen. The addition of pollen retarded the lipid oxidation and inhibited the bacterial growth in meatballs. The pH, redness, TBA value and total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, coliform bacteria and S. aureus counts values changed significantly during storage. The results suggest that bee pollen could be added to enhance the nutritional and storage quality of meatballs with minimal changes in composition and/or sensory properties.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.651-656
• /
• 2016

Bee pollen is produced by honeybees and is considered one of the most balanced and nourishing nutritional supplements available. Historically, bee pollen has been prescribed for its healing properties and consumed for its high-energy supply. Recent research has provided evidence that bee pollen has diverse biological activities, such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and even anti-cancer effects. However, the outer membrane of the pollen grain, exine, is highly resistant to most acidic solutions, high pressure, and even digestive enzymes, and the resulting low bioavailability limits its nutritional and clinical applications. This study applied a wet-grinding method to destroy the exine effectively, and it then examined the pollen's enhanced biological activity. First, microscopic observations provided strong evidence that wet grinding destroyed the exine time-dependently. In addition, the content of polyphenols, well-known ingredients of bee pollen and used as internal standards for the quality control of commercial pollen preparations, increased up to 11-fold with wet grinding. Further, the anti-oxidant activity demonstrated on the ABTS anti-oxidant assay, as well as the DPPH radical scavenging assay, was also dramatically increased. Together, the results presented here support a new technology by which bee pollen can be used as a resource for medical, nutritional, and cosmetic applications.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.404-408
• /
• 1989

This study was conducted to confirm amino acids from the filterate of pollen treated by purified enzyme of bee larva gut for improving pollen food. The larva gut enzyme were purified by ammonium sulfate, ethanol and Sephadex gel filtration. The filterate of pollen treated with enzyme purified by ammonium sulfate showed the highest amount of amino acids. The amount of amino acids of the filterate from which the pollen was fermented with natural contaminants is 5.5 times as much as the pollen which was not fermented. The filterate of pollen treated with enzyme of bee larva gut contained eighteen different amino acids as follows : aspartates, glutamate, serine, glycine, histidine, arginine, threonine, alanine, proline , tyrosine, valine, methionine, cysteine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, lysine and trytophane.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.605-614
• /
• 2018

Bee pollen has an outer wall which is resistant to both acidic and basic solutions and even the digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, the oral bioavailability of bee pollen is only 10-15%. A previous study reported on wet-grinding technology which increased the extraction of active ingredients from bee pollen by 11 times. This study was designed to investigate the safety of wet-ground bee pollen. First, a single dose of wet-ground bee pollen was tested in both rats and beagle dogs at dosages of 5, 10, and 20 g/kg and 1.5, 3, and 6 g/kg, respectively. In rats, compound-colored stools were found in those administered 10 g/kg or more of wet-ground bee pollen. In beagle dogs, 6 g/kg of wet-ground bee pollen induced diarrhea in one male for four hours. However, no obvious clinical signs were found through the end of the experiment in rats and beagle dogs. In addition, no histological abnormality was found in all animals. The data indicates that a single dose of up to 20 g/kg of wet-ground bee pollen is safe. Next, the genetic toxicity of nano-sized bee pollen was tested. This study employed a bacterial reverse mutation test, a micronucleus assay, and a chromosomal aberration assay. In the micronucleus assay, there was no genetic toxicity up to the dosage of 2 g/kg. There was also no genetic toxicity in the bacterial reverse mutation test and chromosomal aberration assay. This data provides important information in developing nano-sized bee pollen into more advanced functional foods and herbal medicines.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.307-310
• /
• 2010

To compare the characteristics between native and foreign bee honeys, we analyzed several parameters of honeys by measuring pollen species, mineral content and K/Na ratio. Our results showed that native bee honey is higher in the pollen species, mineral concentrations than foreign bee honey. The K/Na ratio of native bee honey were increased 3.9~27.9 times than foreign bee honey. We could not detect Fe, Zn, and Al in all native bee honeys by the inductively coupled plasma method. The present results suggest that the several parameters such as pollen species, mineral content and K/Na ratio, were applicable for the identification of differences between native bee honey and foreign bee honey.