Quality of bee pollen submitted to drying, pasteurization, and high-pressure processing-A comparative approach

Bee Pollen is a valuable and useful natural food product that can be used for different purposes, among which medical ones. This matrix is deemed a superfood because of its chemical composition, which is rich in nutrients and possesses significant bioactivities, including antioxidant and microbiological properties. Nevertheless, the storage conditions and processing methods must be optimized to maintain their properties and maximise their application. This work investigates the best bee pollen conservation process and its impact on individual con-stituents. Monofloral bee pollen was analysed for 30 and 60 days after three different storage processes (drying, pasteurization, and high-pressure pasteurization). The results showed a decrease mainly in fatty acid and amino acid content for the dried samples. The best results were obtained with high-pressure pasteurization, maintaining the proteins, amino acids and lipids characteristics of pollen and the lowest microbial contamination.

Automated summary

Bee pollen is a valuable natural food product with various applications, including medical purposes. Its chemical composition is rich in nutrients and possesses significant bioactivities, making it a superfood. However, optimizing storage conditions and processing methods are necessary to maintain its properties and maximize its benefits.