What are the nutrients in royal jelly?

Chemical composition of Royal Jelly

1 Chemical composition of royal jelly 

Royal jelly is produced by feeding the pharyngeal and maxillary glands of the bees, and is used to feed the queen-like substance of the queen and the larvae of 1 to 3 days old. Royal jelly plays an important role in the differentiation of honeybees. Fertilized eggs produced by royal jelly hatch into larvae. If royal jelly is consumed throughout the larval stage, it can develop into a perfect queen with a reproductive system. After eating royal jelly, only honey and pollen will be consumed after that, and they can only develop into worker bees with imperfect reproductive system. In order to clarify the material basis and mechanism of this magical effect of royal jelly, the chemical composition of royal jelly has been extensively studied. As early as the first half of the last century, foreign scholars conducted routine analysis and research on the composition of royal jelly collected from Louisiana, USA. 

Since then, research on the chemical composition of royal jelly has continued to develop with the development of analytical techniques. A large number of modern studies have shown that the composition of royal jelly is extremely complicated, and its chemical composition changes with various factors such as the bee species, the colony's colony status, the nurturing age, the type of nectar source, climatic conditions, pulping time and storage conditions . The pH value of fresh royal jelly is about 3.6 ~ 4.2, and its basic ingredients are: 60% ~ 70% moisture, 12% ~ 15% protein, 10% ~ 16% carbohydrate, 3% ~ 7% lipid, and vitamins and mineral Elements, etc. These ingredients combine with each other to form a material basis for the biological function of royal jelly. 

1.1 Protein 

The protein in royal jelly accounts for about 36% to 55% of the dry matter weight. It can be divided into water-soluble protein and water-insoluble protein. Water-soluble protein accounts for 46% to 89% of the total protein content. It is the main part of royal jelly protein. As the main royal jelly protein. There are currently 9 known members of the MRJPs family, all of which have been identified by cloning, purification and sequencing. 

1.2 amino acids 

There are many types of amino acids in royal jelly, including 8 essential amino acids and various non-essential amino acids required by the human body: threonine, serine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylpropyl Lysine, lysine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, cystine, tyrosine, histidine, arginine, proline. The highest content of these amino acids is aspartic acid and glutamic acid, and the highest content of free amino acids is proline and lysine. In addition, some non-protein amino acids have been detected. 

1.3 Lipids 

The fatty acids in royal jelly are quite special. Among them, 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid is a special component found in nature only in royal jelly. Therefore, 10-HDA is currently the most important indicator of royal jelly. In addition to 10.HDA, royal jelly contains at least 20 kinds of free fatty acids, among which nonanoic acid, capric acid, 10-hydroxy-dec-2-enoic acid, undecyl, dodecyl, and tridecanoic acid, and meat have been identified. Myristic acid, myristic acid, palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid and arachidic acid. In addition, royal jelly is also rich in a variety of compounds such as fats, phospholipids, waxes, terpenes, and steroids, such as triglycerides, diglycerides, 2,4. Methylcholesterol, stigmasterol, and the like. 

1.4 Sugar 

Sugar is an important characteristic component of royal jelly. The sugars contained in royal jelly are mainly fructose and glucose. Also included are disaccharides such as sucrose, maltose, trehalose and gentiobiose. Bee species, location, nectar source conditions, and feeding methods all have an effect on sugar changes in royal jelly, especially the sucrose content varies significantly among different royal jelly. 

1.5 Vitamins 

Royal jelly contains the most B vitamins, including vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12, biotin, and inositol. In addition, royal jelly also contains a small amount of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, and vitamin E. 

1.6 Minerals 

Royal jelly is rich in a variety of mineral elements, and the types and contents of trace elements in royal jelly produced under different conditions such as different places and different types of bees mainly include potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and phosphorus, as well as iron, Zinc, copper, manganese, chromium, selenium, diamond, nickel and other trace elements. Among them, zinc, copper, manganese and other elements are important binding components of some enzymes in royal jelly, which is very important in the expression and action of enzyme activity. 

1.7 enzyme 

Royal jelly contains a variety of biologically active enzymes, such as amylase, lipase, cholinesterase, phosphatase, glucose oxidase, ascorbate oxidase, and superoxide dismutase. The presence of these enzymes affects some components of royal jelly, but it is essential for the biological effects of royal jelly. 

1.8 Nucleic acid 

Royal jelly contains traces of RNA and DNA components. At the same time, research has shown that royal jelly also contains substances such as adenosine phosphate. 

1.9 Other ingredients 

Royal jelly also contains traces of other active ingredients, such as 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol, taurine, and acetylcholine. 

(Source, "Zhejiang University" 2013; Study on the physicochemical properties, biological activity, and action mechanism of royal jelly hydrolysis products; Ji Wenjing