Quality parameters and authenticity of royal jelly

Bekić, Bojana (2015) Quality parameters and authenticity of royal jelly. In: 4th International Congress Programme New Perspectives and Challenges of Sustainable Livestock Production. Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade, pp. 705-713. ISBN 978-86-82431-71-8

Text 3. Bekić, Mladenović, Jocić Mačukanović.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (223kB)

Abstract

Due to specific chemical composition, royal jelly is one of the most valuable bee products used by man since ancient times. Because of the presence of physiologically active compounds that have positive effects on human health, this bee product is primarily used in the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics and production of healthy food. The present paper aimed to discuss parameters of quality and authenticity of royal jelly, which must satisfy certain national and international standards, in order to be competitive product in the food market. Royal jelly is a creamy yellowish substance produced by the cephalic glands of worker bees (Apis mellifera L.) in certain developmental stage, for the purpose of larvae feeding. Considering that this is a highly sought product in the market, whose production is constantly increasing, there is a need for developing new methods of verification of its quality and authenticity. The most important criterion for establishing the quality and authenticity of royal jelly is the determination of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), whose concentration varies widely, depending on a number of factors. The chemical composition of royal jelly is changed if stored for a long time, or due to the lyophilization. Besides 10-HDA analysis, in recent years, variety of methods for determining the authenticity of royal jelly has been developed, but so far, none of them can be singled out as the most reliable. Improving methods for quality and authenticity assessment, in accordance with established national and international standards, remains a challenge for science.

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