Fatty acid composition in beebread

Abstract

Pollen and fatty acid composition were studied in the beebread collected in spring and summer. Willow pollen in spring beebread comprised 45.1 ± 3.0%, while rape pollen in summer beebread constituted 78.7 ± 4.5%. Twenty-two fatty acids were identified in beebread, including five ω-3, four ω-6 and three ω-9 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The ratio of ω-6 and ω-3 fatty acids was 1 : 1 in beebread samples where rape pollen constituted 45.1 ± 3.0% and 61.7 ± 4.0%, while this ratio was 2 : 1 in the beebread with a higher content of rape pollen, 78.7 ± 4.5%. Keywords: pollen, beebread, fatty acid composition