Antioxidant and Tyrosinase Inhibitory Properties of Aqueous Ethanol Extracts from Monofloral Bee Pollen

Bee pollen has been used for many years in traditional medicine and supplementary nutrients. Bee pollen is mainly composed of nutrients and bioactive substances which might act as potential antioxidants and tyrosinase inhibitors. In this study, 14 species of monofloral bee pollen from China were collected to analyse their antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory properties. Our results revealed that virtually all the bee pollen samples possessed powerful antioxidant or tyrosinase inhibitory activities. These properties varied greatly depending on the fl oral species and extraction solvents. To extract phenolics of various species of bee pollen, the most effective solvent may be a solvent which is a 75 wt. % ethanol/water. Extracts of wuweizi, rape, phellodendron, apricot, and dandelion pollen had stronger antioxidant activities; on the other hand, those of apricot, camellia, and sunflower presented excellent tyrosinase inhibitory activities. In addition, we may have found a novel discovery: that apricot pollen exhibits both powerful antioxidant and strong tyrosinase inhibitory activities.