Both honeybees (Apis spp.) and stingless bees (Trigona spp.) produce honeys with high nutritional and therapeutics value. Until recently, the information regarding potential health benefits of stingless bee honey (SBH) in medical databases is still scarce as compared to the common European bee honey (EBH) which is well known for their properties as therapeutic agents. Although there have been very few reports on SBH, empirically these products would have similar therapeutic quality as the EBH. In addition, due to the structure of the nest, few studies reported that the antimicrobial activity of SBH is a little bit stronger than EBH. Therefore, the composition of both the types of honey as well as the traditional uses and clinical applications were compared. The results of various studies on EBH and SBH from tissue culture research to randomised control clinical trials were collated in this review. Interestingly, there are many therapeutic properties that are unique to SBH. Therefore, SBH has a great potential to be developed for modern medicinal uses.

Honey is a well-known natural sweetener and is rich in natural antioxidants that prevent the occurrence of oxidative stress, which is responsible for many human diseases. Some of the biochemical compounds in honey that contribute to this property are vitamins and phenolic compounds such as phenolic acids and flavonoids. However, the extent to which these molecules contribute towards the antioxidant capacity in vitro is inconsistently reported, especially with the different analytical methods used, as well as other extrinsic factors that influence these molecules’ availability. Therefore, by reviewing recently published works correlating the vitamin, total phenolic, and flavonoid content in honey with its antioxidant activities in vitro, this paper will establish a relationship between these parameters. Based on the literature, vitamins do not contribute to honey’s antioxidant capacity; however, the content of phenolic acids and flavonoids has an impact on honey’s antioxidant activity.

Stingless bee-collected pollen (bee bread) is a mixture of bee pollen, bee salivary enzymes, and regurgitated honey, fermented by indigenous microbes during storage in the cerumen pot. Current literature data for bee bread is overshadowed by bee pollen, particularly of honeybee Apis. In regions such as South America, Australia, and Southeast Asia, information on stingless bee bee bread is mainly sought to promote the meliponiculture industry for socioeconomic development. This review aims to highlight the physicochemical properties and health benefits of bee bread from the stingless bee. In addition, it describes the current progress on identification of beneficial microbes associated with bee bread and its relation to the bee gut. This review provides the basis for promoting research on stingless bee bee bread, its nutrients, and microbes for application in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Bee bread is the bee-collected pollen with the mixture of honey and bee salivary enzymes, stored inside the bee hive. Malaysia has limited information on bee bread collected by the stingless bee Heterotrigona itama. Therefore, this study aims to determine the botanical origin and nutritional values of bee bread from H. itama. Melissopalynological analysis was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the bee bread’s botanical origin. The proximate analysis, water activity, sugar profile, amino acid profile, vitamin C content, mineral content, and heavy metal content of the bee bread were analyzed. From the results obtained, Bidens pilosa was found in bee bread from all sampling locations. Bee bread contained high protein (21.70–23.33%) and carbohydrate (57.06–58.89%) contents. Glucose was the predominant sugar found (average 11.499 g/100 g). Eight essential amino acids were quantified, and arginine was detected the highest. The major mineral element in the bee bread was potassium (average 6705.9 mg/kg), followed by phosphorus and magnesium. Toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic were detected but within the safe limits permitted in food. The data obtained contribute towards expanding the knowledge on the nutritional information specifically for H. itama bee bread in Malaysia.

Pollen collected by stingless bee is stored and packed in honey pots following the addition of various enzymes and nectar, or honey which contains microorganisms to undergo lactic acid fermentation to produce bee bread. Naturally fermented foods are known to contain probiotic bacteria. Thus, the aim of this study was to isolate probiotic bacteria from bee bread and characterize the probiotic potential of bacteria with antibacterial activities against foodborne pathogens. Bacteria were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The probiotic potential such as acid and bile tolerance, digestive enzymes tolerance, cell surface hydrophobicity, cell autoaggregation, antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens, blood haemolytic activity, and antibiotic susceptibility were determined. A total of 27 bacteria were isolated from bee bread and were identified as Lactobacillus spp., Fructobacillus fructosus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Enterococcus faecalis, and Bacillus spp. Most of the Bacillus spp. showed haemolytic abilities. L. musae SGMT17 and L. mindensis SGMT22 had similar antibacterial efficiency against tested pathogens in comparison to L. rhamnosus GG. All of the isolates showed high tolerance to pH 3, 0.3% bile, pepsin, and pancreatin except for F. fructosus strains. Lb. crustorum, Lb. mindensis and Lb. musae showed high hydrophobicity and autoaggregation ranging from 52.09 to 80.52% and 57.47 to 92.77%, respectively, depending on the strain. All strains were susceptible to chloramphenicol, ampicillin and tetracycline, but varied for eight other clinically relevant antibiotics. From the result obtained, Lb. musae SGMT17 and Lb. crustorum SGMT20 showed the highest antibacterial activity and probiotic properties in the human in vitro digestive model. Future studies have to be conducted to assess other therapeutic value and safety of the selected bacteria in vivo.

Bee bread is rich in phenolic compounds and recently has gained attention as a food additive, which provides an alternative use to synthetic preservatives. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the proximate composition and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of fish sausages fortified with Heterotrigona itama bee bread ethanolic (BBE) extract at 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75% concentrations. Incorporation of BBE in fish sausages significantly increased the carbohydrate level and lowered the moisture content. The highest phenolic and flavonoid content were observed in fish sausages with 0.75% BBE with 23.46 ± 1.60 mg GAE/g sample and 8.05 ± 0.24 mg rutin/g sample, respectively. The antioxidant activity revealed the highest DPPH scavenging activity for 0.75% BBE fish sausage compared to synthetic additive BHT. After 28 days of frozen storage, lipid oxidation activity of fish sausages with 0.75% BBE had lower thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value than the negative control, but similar ( ) to BHT. The phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities were significantly reduced ( ) after 28 days of storage. Based on the antibacterial activity, BBE was able to inhibit tested foodborne pathogens, and the addition of BBE in fish sausage showed total plate count below 6 log₁₀ CFU/g within 6 days of frozen storage. This research demonstrated the BBE efficiency as a natural antioxidant with antibacterial properties in fish sausages.