Effects of drying techniques on chemical composition and volatile constituents of bee pollen

Bee pollen is used as a food supplement by humans as it is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Bee pollen has many biological activities such as antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor and antioxidant. Fresh bee pollen is not suitable for long-term storage because of its moisture content. In order to protect the nutrient content and freshness, the bee pollen can be dried by using different drying techniques. In this study, the biochemical characterization of the bee pollen samples dried by different techniques and drying effects on the biochemical properties of bee pollen were determined. Moisture, total lipid and protein, pH and total phenolic content of pollen samples were determined. The results ranged 6.23–20.62%, 4.98–5.57%, 16.812–1.477%, 4.08–4.33 and 15.2–22.73 mg GAE g–1, respectively. All samples are rich in squalene and methyl octadecanoate. It is clear that bee pollen bioactive components will be less damaged by using drying methods performed under more moderate conditions like lyophilization than when the traditional method is used.