ABSTRACT
Objective. To establish current knowledge about Colombian bee-pollen from a point of view nutritional and functional, contributing towards creating national technical standards and the identification of chemical differentiation factors for further researches. Material and methods. One hundred ninety-six samples of dried bee pollen were collected in the center region of Colombia known as Cundi-boyacense high plateau, where nearly 90% of total bee pollen production is concentrated in this country. Performed physicochemical analyses in this study were: moisture, pH, acidity, ash, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, dietary fiber, fatty acid profile and mineral elements. Results. Bee pollen from this region had 7.7±5.2 g/100 g moisture content, and a following centesimal composition based on dry matter: ashes 2.5±0.4 g; lipids 6.90±3.5 g; proteins 23.8±3.2 g and total dietary fiber 14.5±3.5 g. The most abundant fatty acids were α-linolenic, palmitic and linoleic. Carbohydrates were the main components and fructose and glucose the most concentrated sugars. The predominant minerals assessed here were potassium, calcium and magnesium. The results were also discussed in terms of the characteristics found in Colombian bee-pollen in comparison to international regulations and findings for other varieties of commercial bee-pollen from eight different countries. Conclusions. The results found in this study suggest that bee-pollen may be used as a dietary supplement and agree with bibliographical reports and international regulations. Such characterization will enable to be proposed technical standards in line with Colombian bee-pollen properties and it is expected to improve marketing and production chain conditions.
Objetivos. Generar conocimiento actualizado sobre el polen colombiano desde un punto de vista nutricional y funcional, contribuyendo a la creación de estándares técnicos nacionales y la identificación de factores químicos de diferenciación para futuras investigaciones. Materiales y métodos. Ciento noventa y seis muestras de polen seco fueron recolectadas en la región central de Colombia conocida como el altiplano cundiboyacense, donde se concentra cerca del 90% de la producción total en este país. Los análisis fisicoquímicos realizados en este estudio fueron: humedad, pH, acidez, cenizas, carbohidratos, lípidos, proteínas, fibra dietaria, perfil de ácidos grasos y minerales. Resultados. El polen de esta región tuvo un contenido de humedad de 7.7±5.2 g/100 g y una composición centesimal basada en materia seca: cenizas 2.5±0.4 g; lípidos 6.90±3.5 g; proteínas 23.8±3.2 g y fibra dietaria total 14.5±3.5 g. Los ácidos grasos más abundantes fueron α-linolénico, palmítico y linoleico. Los carbohidratos fueron los componentes principales con fructosa y glucosa siendo los azúcares más concentrados. Los minerales predominantes evaluados fueron potasio, calcio y magnesio. Los resultados también fueron discutidos en términos de las características encontradas en el polen colombiano en comparación a normatividades internacionales y hallazgos para otras variedades de polen comercial de ocho países diferentes. Conclusiones. Los resultados encontrados en este estudio sugieren que el polen apícola puede ser utilizado como suplemento dietario y es coherente con los reportes bibliográficos y normativas internacionales. Tal caracterización permitirá proponer estándares técnicos de acuerdo a las propiedades del polen colombiano y se espera que se mejore la comercialización y las condiciones de la cadena de producción.
Subject(s)
Bees , Dietary Supplements , Food Composition , Food Quality , Chemical PhenomenaABSTRACT
Background: Pollen of honey-bee Apis mellifera L. is a product gathered for human consumption and marketed as a nutritional and functional resource. However, some studies indicate that it is necessary to develop transformation processes to modify the external structure of pollen, which is extremely difficult and prevents the nutrients and bioactive compounds to be completely digested in the gastrointestinal tract. The bee-pollen productivity in Colombia is up to five times higher than in countries traditionally recognized for its marketing, making this a valuable business opportunity. Objectives: To describe the chemical structure and the most important nutritional and functional components in bee pollen, as well as to understand the availability of compounds and some backgrounds reported for the opening of the bee-pollen grain, both in a natural and artificial manner. Methods: The literature search involved the use of different terms, alone or combined, by using logical operators; some terms were: pollen, beebread, bioactive and nutritional compounds, bioavailability, pollen structure, exine, fertilization. Selected search fields were the title or abstract of the publication in the following databases: Directory of Open Access Journals, Emerald, Pubmed, Redalyc, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Science Direct, Springer Journal, Taylor & Francis, Wiley Online Library. The selected literature was that found mainly between 2008 and 2014in Spanish and English. Results: The nutritional and functional composition of bee-pollen is widely reported; nevertheless, few studies on transformation processes to improve the availability of the compounds present in this product were found. The natural fermentation process occurred within the hive to obtain the product known as "bee-bread" is highlighted, since an emulation of this transformation could be developed in a controlled manner for a scaled production; despite this, further research in the involved biotechnological aspects is still required. Conclusions: Efforts have been made to characterize the bee-pollen from a physical-chemical point of view, but no significant progress in the development of processes of transformation has been reached. The future trends should aim at developing engineering processes emulating the phenomena occurred in nature where structural changes in the outer layer of bee-pollen can be achieved.
Subject(s)
Humans , Pollen , Bees , Biochemical Phenomena , Food Quality , Food ResourcesABSTRACT
Los sistemas de olfato electrónico, más comúnmente conocidos en la industria agroalimentaria como narices electrónicas, son considerados hoy en día como una técnica de análisis de gran aplicabilidad y una práctica no destructiva diseñada para determinar, reconocer e identificar niveles muy bajos de sustancias químicas volátiles. Un arreglo de sensores electroquímicos crea una huella única digital del alimento, haciendo posible el control de calidad, el desarrollo de productos, la caracterización, clasificación y diferenciación por origen y por estado de madurez, la evaluación de su tiempo de vida útil y también como herramienta de control para identificar problemas que amenazan la comercialización, como la falsificación y la adulteración. Este trabajo hizo una revisión bibliográfica de los últimos diez años sobre el principio básico de funcionamiento de una nariz electrónica, los componentes utilizados para su operación, entre ellos el sistema de sensores y el sistema de procesamiento de la información obtenida utilizando técnicas de estadística multivariada y de inteligencia artificial. Los datos recogidos con la nariz electrónica son objetivos, reproducibles, confiables y obtenidos en tiempo real. Los sensores identifican compuestos volátiles por grupos funcionales y mediante las técnicas de análisis estadístico multivariado garantizan su utilidad en diferentes aplicaciones industriales.
Electronic nose systems, more commonly known in the food industry as electronic noses, are considerednowadays as an analytical technique with wide applicability. This is a non-destructive technique designedto analyze, recognize and identify very low levels of chemical volatile substances. An array of electrochemicalsensors creates a unique digital fingerprint of the food, enabling quality control, product development,characterization, classification and origin identification, maturity stage, assessment of shelf-life and as a toolof control to identify problems that threaten the market, such as counterfeiting and adulteration. This paper reviewed the literature of the last 10 years on the basic principle of operation of an electronic nose: thecomponents used in its operation such the sensor system and the processing information system obtained by using multivariate statistical techniques and artificial intelligence. Electronic nose data so obtained were objective, reproducible, reliable and acquired in real time. Sensors identify volatile compounds by functional groups and through statistical analysis techniques guarantee their usefulness in different industrial applications.