Quality Assessment of Bee Pollen: A Cross Sectional Survey in Bulgaria

Background: Due to its nutrient content, a variety of spoilage microorganisms can grow in bee pollen, especially when handling practices are not appropriate. So, this survey was designed to assess the physicochemical and microbiological properties of bee pollen collected from Bulgaria. Methods: In June 2014, 13 fresh and 19 dried bee pollen samples were collected from Bulgaria. Water activity (aw), pH, Total Titratable Acidity (TTA), and bacteriological and fungal counts were evaluated. Data were analyzed using Statistica ver. 10. Results: Mean aw value for fresh and dried bee pollen samples were 0.717 and 0.359, respectively showing significant (p<0.01) difference. The mean pH values of fresh bee pollen samples (4.23) was significantly (p<0.01) lower than that of dried ones (5.21). Also, there is statistically significant difference (p<0.01) between mean TTA value of fresh bee pollen (3.69 g/100 g) and mean TTA value of dried samples (2.09 g/100 g). The mean total viable count in fresh bee pollen samples was 182153.8 Colony Forming Unit (CFU)/g which was significantly (p<0.01) higher than that of dried samples (30352.6 CFU/g); whereas statistical analysis demonstrated that there were no significant differences (p>0.01) among the fresh and dried pollen for Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria, and Staphylococcus spp. counts. The fungal colony count in the fresh bee pollen samples varied from 560 to 37000 CFU/g which were significantly (p<0.01) higher than that in the dried ones. Conclusion: The fresh bee pollen analyzed in this survey had poor microbial quality compared to the dried bee pollen. There is also need to adopt appropriate manufacturing practices to prevent possible contamination by equipment or handling of Bulgarian bee pollen.