Carbohydrate Composition Of Slovenian Bee Pollens

Bee pollen is a source of nutrients that are important for humans. There is growing interest in bee pollen, mainly due to consumers wishing to use natural products for a healthy diet or for their therapeutic effects. The composition of bee pollen varies according to botanical and geographical origin. The aim was to define for the first time the carbohydrate composition of bee pollen from Slovenia. A total of twenty-eight samples of bee pollens were analysed for botanical origins and contents of water, sugars and soluble and insoluble dietary fibre. From the bee pollen samples analysed, ten were recognised as monofloral. Monosaccharides represented 96% of the sugar fraction, with ranges 13.2-27.8g per 100g dry weight for fructose and 10.6-28.5g per 100g dry weight for glucose. Levels of sucrose, maltose and melezitose were low. Total dietary fibre was 10.0-21.4g per 100g dry weight bee pollen, with 73-82% insoluble fibre. Bee pollen can thus provide a good source of dietary fibre. This study supports further nutritional proposals for Slovenian bee pollen.