Bee pollen: Its antioxidant activity

Abstract

Bee pollen is a honey bee product containing over 250 biologically active substances such as phenolic bases, amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, enzymes and coenzymes, vitamins and bio-elements. The composition of bee pollen may vary due to plant sources and its botanical and geographical origin. Bee pollen has been used since ancient times in traditional medicine for its therapeutic effects such as wound healing and hepatoprotective. Bee pollen has been reported to possess antioxidant and radical scavenging activities usually attributed to the presence of phenolic acids and flavonoids which are plant-derived polyphenolic substances. The antioxidant capacity of bee pollen depends on the content of total polyphenolic substances. This review presents an overview of chemical composition and antioxidant activity of bee pollen.