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Carbohydrate composition of Slovenian bee pollens
Author(s) -
Bertoncelj Jasna,
Polak Tomaž,
Pucihar Tina,
Lilek Nataša,
Kandolf Borovšak Andreja,
Korošec Mojca
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.831
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1365-2621
pISSN - 0950-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ijfs.13773
Subject(s) - bee pollen , pollen , sugar , monosaccharide , fructose , biology , maltose , sucrose , composition (language) , food science , botany , dry weight , beekeeping , royal jelly , nutrient , ecology , biochemistry , linguistics , philosophy
Summary Bee pollen is a source of nutrients that are important for humans. There is growing interest in bee pollen, mainly due to consumers wishing to use natural products for a healthy diet or for their therapeutic effects. The composition of bee pollen varies according to botanical and geographical origin. The aim was to define for the first time the carbohydrate composition of bee pollen from Slovenia. A total of twenty‐eight samples of bee pollens were analysed for botanical origins and contents of water, sugars and soluble and insoluble dietary fibre. From the bee pollen samples analysed, ten were recognised as monofloral. Monosaccharides represented 96% of the sugar fraction, with ranges 13.2–27.8 g per 100 g dry weight for fructose and 10.6–28.5 g per 100 g dry weight for glucose. Levels of sucrose, maltose and melezitose were low. Total dietary fibre was 10.0–21.4 g per 100 g dry weight bee pollen, with 73–82% insoluble fibre. Bee pollen can thus provide a good source of dietary fibre. This study supports further nutritional proposals for Slovenian bee pollen.