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An evaluation of the chemical composition and biological properties of Anatolian Royal Jelly, drone brood and queen bee larvae

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Abstract

Therapeutic properties of products such as propolis, pollen and bee venom have been investigated before, but studies about the biological properties of drone brood (DBL) and queen bee larvae (QBL) are very limited. In addition, there are many factors that affect the biological activity power of royal jelly (RJ). This study was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial and antioxidant activity, total phenolic (TPC) and protein content and 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) amount of Anatolian RJ, DBL and QBL. As a result of Folin–Ciocalteu method, there were significant differences between the samples, and the highest value was obtained from the QBL. Bradford Coomassie Brilliant Blue method results showed that QBL had most abundant total protein content while RJ had the lowest amount. According to the HPLC analysis RJ showed the highest 10-HDA amounts, while DBL had the lowest. When the antioxidant activity values were evaluated together, it was understood that the antioxidant capacity of DBL and QBL is significantly higher than RJ. When the data were evaluated statistically, both differences and negative and positive correlations were obtained between the parameters. As a result of MIC experiment Mycobacterium smegmatis was the most susceptible bacterium. DBL and QBL samples did not show any antimicrobial activity against selected microorganisms. This is the first study that focuses on the biological properties of QBL. As a result, Anadolu RJ is promising candidates for the treatment of some infectious diseases, and DBL and QBL are promising candidates for the development of products that can be used as food supplements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beekeeping Research Development and Application Centre, Düzce University, 81620, Düzce, Turkey

    Emine Sonmez & Meral Kekecoglu

  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Düzce University, 81620, Düzce, Turkey

    Meral Kekecoglu

  3. Espiye Vocational School, Giresun University, Espiye, 28600, Giresun, Turkey

    Huseyin Sahin

  4. Department of Biology, Faculty of Art and Science, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Turkey

    Arif Bozdeveci & Sengul Alpay Karaoglu

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  1. Emine Sonmez
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ES: experimental study, methodology, writing-reviewing and editing, visualization. MK: providing material, editing. HS: experimental study. AB: experimental study. SAK: experimental study, providing material.

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Correspondence to Emine Sonmez.

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Sonmez, E., Kekecoglu, M., Sahin, H. et al. An evaluation of the chemical composition and biological properties of Anatolian Royal Jelly, drone brood and queen bee larvae. Eur Food Res Technol 249, 1391–1401 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-023-04221-0

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