Standard methods for pollen research

“Bee pollen” is pollen collected from flowers by honey bees. It is used by the bees to nourish themselves, mainly by providing royal jelly and brood food, but it is also used for human nutrition. For the latter purpose, it is collected at the hive entrance as pellets that the bees bring to the hive. Bee pollen has diverse bioactivities, and thus has been used as a health food, and even as medication in some countries. In this paper, we provide standard methods for carrying out research on bee pollen. First, we introduce a method for the production and storage of bee pollen which assures quality of the product. Routine methods are then provided for the identification of the pollen’s floral sources, and determination of the more important quality criteria such as water content and content of proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins, alkaloids, phenolic and polyphenolic compounds. Finally, methods are described for the determination of some important bioactivities of bee pollen such as its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antimutagenic properties.