I

ANNO 1 Numero 2
Maria Fiorenza Caboni [1], Anna Gloria Sabatini [2], Giovanni Lercker [1]

Royal Jelly: origin, properties and composition

[1] Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Università di Bologna (I)
[2] Istituto Nazionale di Apicoltura, Bologna (I)

Royal Jelly (RJ) is a viscid substance that is highly acidic (pH 3.6-4.2) and has a characteristic sharp flavour secreted by worker bee as an essential food for the larva of queen bee. It is partially water soluble and hits density is 1.1 g/ml. The study of RJ composition was carried out since 1940 and it is still not exhaustive. The dry matter arrange between 30 –40% and consists of protein, lipids and sugars. It has been claimed to be veritable powerhouse of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. The researcher activity on RJ is request both to assure the product autenicity both to ensure their freshness. The peculiar components of RJ are free hydroxy acids and the most represented is 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA): no other natural product has been reported to contain 10-HAD. RJ has been demonstrated to possess several pharmacological activities in experimental animals, including vasodilatative and hypotensive activities. Different parameter are tested to evaluate RJ freshness, furosine assay appear the most suitable marker to evaluate the conditions of RJ storage.

Contact: maria.caboni@unibo.it