Antioxidant activities, aliphatic organic acid and sugar contents of Anatolian bee bread: characterization by principal component analysis

Bee bread is a bee product that is formed by the mixture of honey, pollen, and secretion from the salivary glands of the bee. Research on bee bread is very limited compared to honey and pollen studies, but in recent years, with the increasing visibility of the product in the market, research on bee bread has also increased. This study was conducted to evaluate the chemical profile and antioxidant activity of bee breads collected from Anatolia. The individual sugars and organic acids were analyzed by a rapid and green capillary electrophoretic method. Fructose (11.6–32.1 g/100 g) and glucose (6.21–21.5 g/100 g) were the major sugars. Bee bread samples contained a wide range of organic acids. In all of the bee bread samples, gluconic acid (43.6–63.2 g/kg) was the predominant organic acid. Lactic acid, with a concentration ranging from 17.6 to 21.7 g/kg, was the second-highest organic acid. Total phenolic contents of the bee bread samples, ranging from 11.9 to 32.4 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g, were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu's method. DPPH radical scavenging activities and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) of the samples were evaluated. Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) analysis was performed using all data. The bee bread samples were clustered according to their site of collection. The results of the study will contribute to the data to be created from different parts of the world in the coming days for bee bread, which has a commercial value as food and complementary medicine. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].