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Bee Pollen and Bee Bread

Posted August 18, 2025

Recently, functional foods have been a subject of great interest in dietetics owing not only to their nutritional value but rather their myriads of health benefits. Moreover, an increase in consumers’ demands for such valuable foods warrants the development in not only production but rather tools of quality and nutrient assessment. Bee products, viz., bee pollen and bread, are normally harvested from the flowering plants with the aid of bees. Bee pollen is further subjected to a fermentation process in bee hives to produce the more valuable and bioavailable bee bread. Owing to their nutritional and medicinal properties, bee products are considered important food supplements rich in macro-, micro-, and phytonutrients. Bee products are rich in carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, fatty acids, and minerals in addition to a myriad of phytonutrients such as phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, volatiles, and carotenoids. Moreover, unsaturated fatty acids (USFAs) of improved lipid profile such as linoleic, linolenic, and oleic were identified in both.

Bee Pollen

Bee pollen (BP) offers a diverse nutritional profile and contains:

Simple sugars (40-60%)
Proteins (20-60%)
Minerals and vitamins (3%)
Fatty acids (1-32%)
Other diverse components (5%)

BP is the natural pollen of flowering plants collected mainly by honey bees and is considered as the major source of feeding for bee growth. The nutritional and medicinal value of BP is attributed to its richness in several macro- and micronutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, lipids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, glucosinolates (GLSs), and essential oils. BP is considered as a rich source of certain essential amino acids including arginine, histidine, lysine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, methionine, threonine, leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Additionally, BP contains vitamins, macro elements such as phosphorus, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, and microelements including copper, manganese, iron, zinc, and selenium.

Bee Bread

Bee bread (BB), created through a fermentation process, has a slightly different composition:

25% honey or nectar
70% pollen
Bee saliva

The fermentation process also enhances BB with:

Lactic acid
B vitamins
Vitamin K
Easily digestible unsaturated fatty acids
Polysaccharides
Probiotic strains

As a result, BB offers bioavailable nutrients that may be easier for the body to absorb compared to bee pollen.

BB is produced via the fermentation of pollen, honey, and bee digestive enzymes in the presence of lactic acid bacteria in wax-sealed honeycombs. Such fermented BB is considered to be more bioavailable than crude BP which is collected directly from the legs of the bees at the hive entrance with the aid of traps. Compared to BP, fermented BB is different in chemical composition as it contains higher levels of reducing sugars, vitamin K, and is considered as a rich source of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) that is essential for human health and improving lipid profile. Moreover, both BP and BB have high nutritional value as they are considered as a rich source of fatty acids. BP is rich in long-chain fatty acids such as linoleic, α-linolenic, and α-palmitic acid, whereas BB is richer in linoleic, oleic, and 11,14,17-eicosatrienoic acids. Although the protein level in BP is higher than that of BB, BB protein is considered more bioavailable and digestible. Due to the change in several conditions such as climate, plant origin, collection tools, and collection time, the nutritional and chemical characteristics of bee products are subjected to differences. Therefore, determining the exact chemical composition of such valuable components is important for an estimation of their quality.

Quality

An important issue concerning the criterion of BP quality is its purity and microbiological safety. It should be emphasized that the deterioration of the quality of the product may result from negligence of beekeepers in the range of hygienic standards and proper handling of the product in the early stages of production. Such activities can lead to the product becoming harmful to the health. It seems that the most critical step is pollen collection from the traps. The long-term pollen storage in the traps can cause an increase in humidity, which favors the growth of microorganisms. BB poured with honey and blinded in honeycomb cells is well stored for a long time. However, when it is not blinded by the bees, it readily absorbs water vapor from the air, which could result in mold. The quality of the final product also depends on the process of cleaning, drying, packaging and the time of pollen or bee bread storage. Only a few countries have established microbiological criteria for dried BP market turnover. Switzerland, Argentina, and Brazil are the first countries that implemented official regulations concerning the quality, physico-chemical properties, hygiene and sanitation of pollen. However, there is no specific international agreement regarding the rules concerning the quality of bee products.

Due to the high protein content in BP, its improper storage can lead to the deterioration in nutritional value due to the Maillard reaction (chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars), loss of volatile compounds, or the appearance of undesirable odors as a result of lipid oxidation. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the control and supervision of the process of product preparation and storage. BP and BB contain bactericidal compounds, as well as carbohydrates and lactic acid, that are effective in reducing the growth of microorganisms, which include mold and spoilage bacteria.

Differences

BB is characterized by a higher nutritional value than BP, better digestibility, and richer chemical composition. Moreover, it is better absorbed by the human body than BP since the components of BB are partially fermented and are more easily assimilated in an organism. BB contains considerably larger amounts of peptides and free amino acids. Because of the proportions of particular components, BB is an excellent food product that could supplement the deficiency of vitamins and nutrients in an organism. It acts in different directions to strengthen an organism and restore its proper functioning. Because of the presence of all the essential amino acids, BB is characterized by better composition than many valuable products obtained based on animal proteins. BB also has good properties that help eliminate various toxins from the organism.

Additionally, the composition of BB is biochemically similar to the composition of pollen from which it is produced. However, it is not the same because of the enzymes contained in the BB and the lack of pollen sheath, which may disturb the absorption of nutrients contained in it. BB contains about 30% protein on average. BB is also different from fresh pollen, and it contains more sugars and much less starch. The content of starch in pollen is in the range of 0–22%. Most kinds of pollen contain less than 5% of starch, and pollen derived from sunflower contains only 0.4% starch. BB is rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin K, which is not present in the fresh pollen.

Storage Considerations

BP should be typically placed in a sealed container or bag after harvesting to kill mites and then stored in a freezer at −0.4 °F/−18 °C for at least 48 h. Prior to freezing the pollen, it should be immediately cleaned to remove major pollutants such as dead bees and ants. Leading pollen producers often choose to use large boxes with trays inside to keep their harvests free of large debris, such as dead bees. BP degrades over time in terms of its bioactivity, and further nutritional and functional properties are influenced by processing conditions applied to fresh pollen before storage suggesting that BP is best consumed frozen, similar to royal jelly.

BB needs to be gathered from honeycomb and undergoes drying and cooling, followed by segmentation and separation from beeswax. Different technologies have been developed for the separation of BB, such as vacuum drying, water soaking or freezing, segmentation, and filtering methods. It is recommended that modern non-destructive methods such as acoustic drying should be applied for BB extraction. Moreover, as BB is the hive product which undergoes fermentation from freshly collected BP and is stored in the hive for long periods, BB has less chance to be spoiled than fresh BP. Nevertheless, poor storage conditions also deteriorate BP and BB quality. It is hypothesized that when taken directly from the freezer, without being dried, BP has a superior taste and consistency. Fresh pollen has a smooth, soft texture, which makes eating it pleasant. The pollen of bees has a high moisture content, which requires a dehydration process (artificial drying) to prevent rapid fermentation and spoilage. However, when the BP is dried, its taste changes to a large extent. Among all organoleptic features, color and flavor are most affected by storage and conservation conditions. Also, a sensory transformation occurs when BP is transferred into BB. The acidity from lactic acid during fermentation brightens endowed BB with flavor and possible astringency or bitterness.

Referenced Materials

Winter Prep

What do Honey Bees want?

Dearth and Colony Impact

STOP PRETENDING.

START BEE-TENDING.

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