Mycotoxicological and palynological profiles of commercial brands of dried bee pollen

Abstract Pollen is used in the human diet as a food supplement because of its high nutritional value; however, this product is prone to fungal contamination that could potentially generate toxins that are harmful to human health. This study aimed to verify the floral diversity of commercial brands of bee pollen and their mycotoxicological safety for human consumption. A total of 27 bee pollen samples were analyzed; these samples represented commercial brands, either showing an inspection seal or not, marketed in the State of Rio de Janeiro. The analyzed parameters included floral diversity through palynological analysis, water activity, fungal counts, identification and toxigenic profiles. The palynological analysis identified nine plant families, of which the Asteraceae was predominant. Analysis of hygienic quality based on fungal load showed that 92% of samples were reproved according to the commercial, sanitary, and food safety quality indicators. Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Penicillium were the most common genera. Toxigenic evaluation showed that 25% of the A. flavus strains produced aflatoxins. The high rate of contamination of products bearing an inspection seal emphasizes the need to monitor the entire procedure of bee pollen production, as well as to revise the current legislation to ensure safe commercialization of this product.

Atividade antimicrobiana de produtos naturais frente a bactérias formadoras do biofilme dentário / Antimicrobial activity of herbal products against dental biofilm forming bacteria

Objeti vo: Verifi car, in vitro, o efeito anti microbiano do pólen e dos extratos alcoólico e aquoso da própolis em suas formas pura e diluídas sobre cepas de referência Streptococcus mutans ATCC25175, Streptococcus salivarius ATCC 7073, Streptococcus mitis ATCC 903 e Lactobacillus casei ATCC 9595 pela determinação da Diluição Inibitória Máxima (DIM). Método: Uti lizou-se a clorexidina como controle positivo e água desti lada e álcool de cereais 70% como controles negativos. Efetuou-se a diluição das soluções de 1:1 até 1:64dos extratos alcoólico e aquoso da própolis diluídos em álcool 70% e água desti lada, respecti vamente. O pólen foi diluído em álcool, por ser uma substancia apolar, nas concentrações de 5% (quanti dade presente na composição química da própolis) e 50%. Cada linhagem bacteriana foi reati vada em caldo nutritivo Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) e semeadas as placas com auxílio de swabs, procedendo-se com testes de susceti bilidade, em duplicata, por meio do método da difusão em ágar e técnicado ágar recortado. Em seguida, foram incubadas a 37°C, em microaerofilia, por 48h. Resultados: Constatou-se que todas as diluições da própolis alcoólica inibiram o crescimento bacteriano enquanto a própolis aquosa mostrou os menores resultados tendo efeitoapenas sobre S. miti s na forma pura e nas diluições de 1:1 até 1:4. O pólen a 5% foi efi ciente sobre todas as bactérias, porém o pólen a 50% teve ação apenas sobre S. mitis. Os controlesnegati vos não apresentaram ati vidade. Conclusão: Apesar da própolis e do pólen apresentarem atividade anti microbiana contra as cepas de referência superiorà do placebo, esta, porém, foi inferior à da clorexidina.

Objective: To evaluate, in vitro, the antimicrobial effect of pollen and alcoholic and aqueous propolis extracts in their pure and diluted forms against reference strains Streptococcus mutans ATCC 25175, Streptococcus salivarius ATCC 7073, Streptococcus mitis ATCC 903 and Lactobacillus casei ATCC 9595, by determination of Maximum Inhibitory Dilution (MID). Methods: Chlorhexidine was used as a positive control and distilled water and 70% grain alcohol as negative controls. The alcoholic and aqueous propolis extracts were subjected to dilutions from 1:1 to 1:64 in 70% alcohol and distilled water, respectively. For being an apolar substance, pollen was diluted in alcohol at the concentrations of 5% (amount present in the chemical composition of propolis) and 50%. Each bacterial strain was reactivated in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth and seeded onto plates with swabs, and the susceptibility tests were performed in duplicate by the agar diffusion method using the agar well technique. Next, the plates were incubated at 37øC in microaerophilia during 48 hours. Results: All dilutions of alcoholic propolis extract inhibited the bacterial growth while the aqueous propolis extract showed less efficient results, being effective only against S. mitis in its pure form and in the 1:1 to 1:4 dilutions. Pollen at 5% was efficient against all bacteria, but pollen at 5% had action only against S. mitis. The negative controls did not present antimicrobial activity. Conclusion: The antimicrobial activity of propolis and pollen against the reference strains was higher than that of placebo but lower than that of chlorhexidine.

Saprophytic fungus collection by africanized bees in Brazil / Coleta de fungos saprofíticos por abelhas africanizadas no Brasil

Cladosporium sp. collection by bees (Apis mellifera L.) was observed in Brazil at an apiary located in Minas Gerais, during November10-23, 2005, characterized by high air relative humidity and low availability of food resources (pollen and nectar).The nutritional composition of the fungi pellets presented high protein value, ethereal extract and organic matter.

A coleta de Cladosporium sp. por abelhas (Apis mellifera L.) foi observada no Brasil em um apiário localizado em Minas Gerais, no período de 10 a 23/11/05, caracterizado pela alta umidade relativa do ar e escassez de recurso alimentar (pólen e néctar). A composição nutricional das bolotas de fungos apresentou alto valor protéico, extrato etéreo e matéria orgânica.

Irradiacion de tabletas de polen: estudio de dosis / Irradiation of pollen tablets: dose study

El polen constituye una fuente rica de nutrientes para el hombre; sin embargo, dado su origen los productos elaborados a partir de el suelen resultar de una inadecuada calidad higienica lo que los situa fuera de las especificaciones establecidas en el pais, por lo que es necesario en estos casos la aplicacion de un metodo de descontaminacion adecuado. El presente trabajo tuvo por objetivo estudiar las posibilidades de radiodescontaminacion de tabletas de polen 125 mg mediante la aplicacion de diferentes niveles de dosis de radiaciones gamma (2-10 kGy). Se realizaron evaluaciones microbiologicas y fisicoquimicas pre y postratamiento y se encontro que 6 kGy como dosis minima es la dosis adecuada de irradiacion para lograr el objetivo propuesto