Flower powder or pollen is comprised of a plant’s male sex cells that are dispersed for the purpose of further propagation of the plant. It is dispersed by bees, other insects, animals and humans. A grain of pollen is round or egg-shaped, which depends on the type of flower. For bees, pollen is a source of protein without which they cannot feed their young or secrete wax. Bees collect pollen using special tools, a kind of basket and brush, which are located on their hind legs. When a bee collects pollen, it wets it with its saliva, nectar or honey from its honey bladder, and rolls it into lumps. The bee fills a honeycomb cell with pollen up to two thirds of its height, and then covers it almost to the top with honey, thus keeping pollen from spoiling. Throughout the season, a bee colony collects and uses about 30 kilograms of pollen, and annually, it gathers 30 to 40 kilograms of this precious food.
In terms of nutritional value, there are large differences between different types of pollen. As a foodstuff, pollen is harmless and has a very high nutritional and energy value. In humans, flower pollen stimulates the formation of white and red blood cells, helps the immune system, acts as an antioxidant, prevents the action of free radicals and thus prevents the emergence and development of disease. It also has a gonadotropic effect (acting on the sex glands) and proven antimicrobial properties.
Flower pollen has a total protein content of between 11% and 35 % and a total free amino acid content of between 2 and 2.3 mg/100 grams. Pollen contains all amino acids, with arginine, asparagine, proline, tyrosine, glutamine, histidine, lysine and alanine being present in the highest amounts. It also contains 15 vitamins and provitamins, such as: B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamins D, E, H and K, as well as choline, inositol, rutin, nicotinamide and beta-carotene. Minerals found in pollen comprise between 1% and 7% of its composition (calcium, phosphorus, iron, copper, potassium, magnesium, zinc and iodine). Out of at least 14 useful fatty acids present, it is the unsaturated fatty acids, i.e., linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic acid, which are present in the highest amounts.
Studies have shown that daily intake of pollen contributes to a significant increase in alpha-linolenic acid content in blood plasma and platelets, and that pollen rich in alpha-linolenic acid increases the concentration of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the tissue to such values that are comparable to those caused by intake of fish oil. Alpha-linolenic acid protects against cardiac arrhythmia and, with its antithrombotic properties, reduces the possibility of thromboembolic complications. Pollen is rich in lecithin, a substance that is normally present in all types of cells in our bodies. If there is proper brain and nervous system function, pollen improves metabolism, reduces fats amounts, neutralizes the effects of toxins from the environment and stimulates the action of vitamins.
The results of various scientific studies have shown that hand-collected flower pollen has weaker antimicrobial effects than that collected by bees. Bees enrich the pollen stored in the honeycomb with their enzymes. If there is lactic acid in the honeycomb, pollen ferments and the hard shell of each grain softens.
Flower pollen has a wide range of effects, such as: it regulates bowel function, quickly stops persistent diarrhea, helps with anemia, increases appetite, improves mood, relieves nervousness and irritability, improves blood circulation to the brain, fosters growth, improves vision, acts against hair loss, helps with prostate disease, helps faster recovery in cases of acute prostate inflammation, relieves pain during childbirth and facilitates childbirth, to name but a few.
Bosiljka Studen, MS in biotechnology
