NMR and HPLC profiling of bee pollen products from different countries

Bee pollen, a beehive product collected from flowers by honeybees, contains over 250 biological substances, and has attracted increasing attention as a functional food. However, commercial bee pollen products are often multifloral, and samples from different countries vary significantly. There is no universal standard for objective quality assessment of bee pollen based on its chemical composition. Here, we report metabolomic analysis of 11 bee pollen samples from Spain, China, and Australia for quality control. The characteristics of the samples depend on the sucrose, nucleoside, amino acid, and flavanol concentrations. Bee pollen samples from Spain and Australia had higher sucrose and adenosine concentrations, whereas those from China had higher trigonelline, uridine, and cytidine concentrations. Interestingly, acetic acid was only detected in samples from China. These components can be used to identify the country of origin. The obtained profiles of the samples will contribute to universal standard development for bee pollen products.