Fatty acid profiles of monofloral clover beebread and pollen and proteomics of red clover (Trifolium pratense) pollen

Abstract

Fatty acids were identified in monofloral beebread (BB) and bee pollen (BP) loads collected from Trifolium pratense L. A gas chromatography method was used to identify and quantify fatty acids: Thirty-five fatty acids were identified in BB and 42 in BP. A high amount of the healthy n-3 fatty acids was found. The ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids n-3 to n-6 reached a value of 8.42 and 3.35 in the latter products. The proteomic analysis also was performed on the manually collected T. pratense pollen, and the most abundant protein groups were subjected to mass spectrometry analysis. Proteins identified in T. pratense pollen are involved in the main cellular functions (cell membrane formation, organelles traffic, and mainly metabolic processes). Because of the composition of fatty acids in BB and BP and a variety of proteins present in pollen, these products are considered to be favorable for human nutrition and health.