Brazilian bee pollen: phenolic content, antioxidant properties and antimicrobial activity

Abstract

Bee pollen has been promoted as a dietary supplement for humans due to its nutritional and bioactive properties. Sixty-two samples of Apis mellifera dehydrated bee pollen collected in Brazil (eight states and Federal District) were analyzed for phenolic compounds, flavonoids, antioxidant activity using DPPH, β-carotene and ORAC methods, and antimicrobial activity. The values obtained for total phenolic compounds ranged from 12.60 to 84.22 mg GAE/g bee pollen while total flavonoids oscillated between 1.90 and 36.85 mg quercetin/g bee pollen. The IC₅₀ ranged from 0.35 to 13.42 mg bee pollen/mL of extract. The inhibition percentages ranged from 52.58 to 98.37% of bee pollen extract using the β-carotene method. When measured by the ORAC method, antioxidant activity was between 132.98 and 575.85 μmols eq. Trolox/g bee pollen. Bee pollen efficiently inhibited the growth of all the microorganisms studied. Candida albicans was the most resistant, while Staphylococcus epidermides was the most sensitive.

Keywords:

• antimicrobial activity
• bee pollen
• dpph
• orac
• total phenolic compounds
• β-carotene
• bleaching assay

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP); under Grant #2009/52163-5 (thesis doctoral project) the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES); and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).