Antioxidant properties of pollen
Today, bee pollen is commonly used in folk medicine and its pharmacy effects have not yet been scientifically proven. The composition and chemistry of bee pollen are not yet standardized nor defined in pharmacopoeia, and may vary due to its botanical and geographical origin, the plant species, environmental conditions, age and status of plants. Because of this, the type of bee pollen depends on the available bee pasture and types of plant species visited by bees. Bee pollen contains nutritional and essential substances and also significant amounts of polyphenolic substances, mainly flavonoids, that are considered as the main ingredients of pollen and its antioxidant properties. Researches show that pollen has significant antioxidant activity and mostly depends on phenol compounds. Large deviations of the this antioxidant activity are considerable, as well as content of phenolic compounds between pollen grains taken from different plant species and different geographical regions. The pollen antioxidant activity is usually expressed as the antioxidant capacity, and primarily depends on its botanical and geographical origin that is the subject of many scientific and research papers. This article gives an overview of bee pollen, its chemical composition and botanical origin, antioxidant properties and its capacity.