Exploring the Chemical Constituents and Nutritive Potential of Bee Drone (Apilarnil): Emphasis on Antioxidant Properties

Aida A Abd El-Wahed; Shaden A M Khalifa; Badr Aldahmash; Hongcheng Zhang; Ming Du; Chao Zhao; Haroon Elrasheid Tahir; Aamer Saeed; Hidayat Hussain; Zhiming Guo; Hesham R El-Seedi

doi:10.1002/cbdv.202400085

Exploring the Chemical Constituents and Nutritive Potential of Bee Drone (Apilarnil): Emphasis on Antioxidant Properties

Chem Biodivers. 2024 Feb 8:e202400085. doi: 10.1002/cbdv.202400085. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bee Research, Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Giza, 12627, Egypt.
² Psychiatry and Neurology Department, Capio Saint Göran's Hospital, Sankt Göransplan 1, 112 19, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Zoology Department, College of science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
⁵ School of Food Science and Technology, National Engineering Research Center of Seafood, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian, 116024, China.
⁶ College of Marine Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China.
⁷ Agricultural Product Processing and Storage Lab, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, China.
⁸ Department of Chemistry, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
⁹ Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Weinberg 3, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany.
¹⁰ School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China.
¹¹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Madinah, Madinah, 42351, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 38329156
DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.202400085

Abstract

A lesser-known bee product called drone brood homogenate (DBH, apilarnil) has recently attracted scientific interest for its chemical and biological properties. It contains pharmacologically active compounds that may have neuroprotective, antioxidant, fertility-enhancing, and antiviral effects. Unlike other bee products, the chemical composition of bee drone larva is poorly studied. This study analyzed the chemical compostion of apilarnil using several methods. These included liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and a combination of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with solid phase micro-extraction (SPME/GC-MS). Additionally, antioxidant activity of the apilarnil was assessed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. A chemical assessment of apilarnil showed that it has 6.3±0.00, 74.67±0.10 %, 3.65±0.32 %, 8.80±1.01 %, 13.16±0.94 %, and 8.79±0.49 % of pH, moisture, total lipids, proteins, flavonoids, and carbohydrates, respectively. LC-MS/MS analysis and molecular networking (GNPS) of apilarnil exhibited 44 compounds, including fatty acids, flavonoids, glycerophospholipids, alcohols, sugars, amino acids, and steroids. GC-MS detected 30 volatile compounds in apilarnil, mainly esters (24 %), ketones (23.84 %), ethers (15.05 %), alcohols (11.41 %), fatty acids (10.06), aldehydes (6.73 %), amines (5.46), and alkene (5.53 %). The antioxidant activity of apilarnil was measured using DPPH with an IC₅₀ of 179.93±2.46 μg/ml.

Keywords: Apilarnil; GC-MS/MS; LC-MS/MS; antioxidant; nutritive value.

Abstract

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