Bioactive compounds and health-promoting properties of royal jelly: A review
Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed . 2012
Recent years have seen growing interest on the part of consumers
and the food industry into functional food ingredients
and the ways in which it may help maintain human health.
The important role that diet plays in preventing and treating
illness is widely accepted. The basic concepts of nutrition are
undergoing a significant change. The classical concept of
‘‘adequate nutrition,’’ that is, a diet that provides nutrients
in sufficient quantities to satisfy particular organic needs, is
being replaced by the concept of ‘‘optimal nutrition,’’ which
includes, besides nutrients, the potential of food to promote
health, improve general well-being and reduce the risk of
developing certain illnesses. This is where functional foods,
also known as designer foods, therapeutic foods, superfoods,
or medicinal foods, play their part (Nagai & Inoue, 2004). The
market for functional foods is increasing at an annual rate of
15–20% (Hilliam, 2000). A functional food may be natural or be
obtained by eliminating or modifying one or more of its basic
components. Some components may also be added to food to
make them ‘‘functional’’ among them x3 fatty acids, vitamins,
probiotics, fibre, phytochemicals, bioactive peptides
and phytosterols may be named (Chandrasekara & Shahidi,
2011; De La Rosa, Alvarez-Parrilla, & Shahidi, 2011). Among
foods that possess potential health benefits are those originating
from the beehive, namely honey, propolis and royal
jelly.
Some Candida species are found as endosymbionts in most healthy individuals. C.
Propolis is a regional strongly differing heterogeneous glue material generated by honeybees using plant resins and beeswax.
Beekeeping is one of the most important economic activities for rural communities in Saudi Arabia, where approximately 5000 beekeepers maintain more than one million honeybee colonies and produce…