Organic bee pollen (BP, n = 22) harvested from the Douro International Natural
Park (DINP, Portugal) was studied. Nine botanical families were found in the mixture of
the samples. The water activity and pH ranged 0.21–0.37 and 4.3–5.2, respectively. The BP
analyses averaged 67.7% carbohydrates, 21.8% crude protein, 5.2% crude fat and 2.9% ash.
The energy ranged from 396.4 to 411.1 kcal/100 g. The principal fatty acid found was
linolenic, followed by linoleic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid. The phenolic and flavonoid
contents varied from 12.9 to 19.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of extract and from 4.5 to
7.1 mg of catechin equivalents/g of extract, respectively. The scavenger activity and β-carotene
bleaching assays values (EC50) were 3.0 ± 0.7 mg/mL and 4.6 mg/mL ± 0.9 mg/mL,
respectively. E. coli, sulphite-reducing Clostridia, Salmonella and S. aureus were not
found. Since there are studies indicating appreciable differences among BPs from different
regions, the full characterization of BP from diverse origins still appears to be a sound
research priority in order to obtain reliable data about this beehive product.
