Safety aspects of stingless bee pot-pollen from the Philippines

Element	Pollen sample
Element	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Aluminum	Al	21.4 ± 1.4	9.5 ± 0.4	30.4 ± 2.8	93.6 ± 3.4	18.6 ± 1.1	14.9 ± 1.2	89.0 ± 7.0	132.8 ± 12.5
Vanadium	V	0.122 ± 0.016	0.064 ± 0.006	0.098 ± 0.005	0.224 ± 0.020	0.091 ± 0.009	0.083 ± 0.007	0.167 ± 0.015	0.246 ± 0.013
Chromium	Cr	0.683 ± 0.109	0.371 ± 0.045	0.299 ± 0.031	0.643 ± 0.095	0.312 ± 0.040	0.439 ± 0.055	0.888 ± 0.071	0.485 ± 0.056
Cobalt	Co	0.155 ± 0.023	0.154 ± 0.008	0.071 ± 0.005	0.058 ± 0.004	0.138 ± 0.010	0.044 ± 0.004	0.108 ± 0.005	0.069 ± 0.012
Nickel	Ni	0.874 ± 0.087	0.469 ± 0.058	0.442 ± 0.041	0.481 ± 0.056	0.511 ± 0.075	0.451 ± 0.055	0.994 ± 0.079	0.792 ± 0.096
Gallium	Ga	0.061 ± 0.018	0.076 ± 0.012	0.080 ± 0.010	0.075 ± 0.002	0.077 ± 0.006	0.079 ± 0.011	0.082 ± 0.009	0.086 ± 0.007
Arsenic	As	0.018 ± 0.004	0.017 ± 0.009	0.016 ± 0.008	0.028 ± 0.006	0.015 ± 0.006	0.019 ± 0.007	0.019 ± 0.009	0.032 ± 0.007
Molybdenum	Mo	0.141 ± 0.011	0.096 ± 0.010	0.116 ± 0.007	0.282 ± 0.039	0.275 ± 0.024	0.219 ± 0.018	0.514 ± 0.034	0.491 ± 0.020
Cadmium	Cd	0.091 ± 0.014	0.053 ± 0.006	0.153 ± 0.018	0.078 ± 0.013	0.057 ± 0.013	0.085 ± 0.012	0.074 ± 0.012	0.070 ± 0.007
Barium	Ba	23.48 ± 1.61	3.13 ± 0.26	3.41 ± 0.29	2.06 ± 0.20	4.71 ± 0.42	1.19 ± 0.11	7.05 ± 0.37	2.08 ± 0.30
Thallium	Tl	0.0030 ± 0.0004	0.0089 ± 0.0011	0.0031 ± 0.0006	0.0007 ± 0.0004	0.0083 ± 0.0019	0.0040 ± 0.0010	0.0017 ± 0.0003	0.0033 ± 0.0008
Lead	Pb	0.017 ± 0.003	0.022 ± 0.001	0.033 ± 0.002	0.108 ± 0.009	0.025 ± 0.002	0.072 ± 0.006	0.052 ± 0.006	0.155 ± 0.004

a Values of inorganic contaminants are expressed as mean ± standard uncertainty (k = 2)

a Werte anorganischer Verunreinigungen ausgedrückt als Mittelwert ± Standartabweichung (k = 2)

Table 2

Reference dose for chronic oral exposure as recommended by agencies and average estimated daily intake of the determined inorganic contaminants in pot-pollen samples produced by stingless bees (Tetragonula biroi Friese) from the Philippines

Tabelle 2. Referenzwerte zur chronisch oralen Aufnahme und geschätzten durchschnittlichen Tagesdosis der analysierten anorganischen Kontaminanten durch philippinische Pollenproben produziert von Tetragonula biroi Friese

Element		Oral RfD or TDI (mg/kg-day) ^a,	Average EDI (mg/kg-day) ^b,
Aluminum	Al	0.3 (SCHEER)	8.54 × 10⁻³
Vanadium	V	V (+5): 0.009 (US EPA)	2.28 × 10⁻⁵
Chromium	Cr	Cr (+3): 1.5, Cr (+6): 0.003 (US EPA)	8.58 × 10⁻⁵
Cobalt	Co	0.0003 (RAIS), 0.01 (ATSDR)	1.66 × 10⁻⁵
Nickel	Ni	0.02 (US EPA)	1.04 × 10⁻⁴
Gallium	Ga	–	1.28 × 10⁻⁵
Arsenic	As	0.0003 (US EPA)	3.39 × 10⁻⁶
Molybdenum	Mo	0.023 (HC), 0.005 (US EPA)	4.45 × 10⁻⁵
Cadmium	Cd	0.001 (HC), 0.0005 (US EPA)	1.37 × 10⁻⁵
Barium	Ba	0.2 (US EPA)	9.81 × 10⁻⁴
Thallium	Tl	–	6.91 × 10⁻⁷
Lead	Pb	0.0036 (HC)	1.01 × 10⁻⁵

a Oral reference dose (Oral RfD) or Tolerable daily intake (TDI) as recommended by agencies and committees such as United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), Risk Assessment Information System (RAIS), Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Health Canada (HC), and Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER);

b Estimated daily intake (EDI) of inorganic contaminants calculated based on recommended daily consumption for pollen (10 g) and average adult body weight (60 kg) using the formula of the Codex Alimentarius (2014) on evaluation of dietary exposure to food additives

a empfohlene orale Referenzdosis (Oral RfD) oder tolerierbare tägliche Aufnahme (TDI) nach US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), RAIS (Risk Assessment Information System), ATSDR (Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry), HC (Health Canada) und SCHEER (Scientific Committee on Health, Environment and Emerging Risks);

b geschätzte tägliche Aufnahme (EDI) anorganischer Kontaminanten, berechnet auf Basis des empfohlenen täglichen Verzehrs von Pollen (10 g) und des durchschnittlichen Körpergewichts von Erwachsenen (60 kg) nach Codex Alimentarius (2014) zur Bewertung der ernährungsbedingten Exposition gegenüber Lebensmittelzusatzstoffen

Table 3

Average microbial counts of the analyzed pot-pollen samples produced by stingless bees (Tetragonula biroi Friese) from the Philippines

Tabelle 3. Durchschnittliche ermittelte Keimzahl der untersuchten philippinischen Pollenproben produziert von Tetragonula biroi Friese

Microorganism	Lowest Limit of Detection (LLOD)	Pollen sample
Microorganism	Lowest Limit of Detection (LLOD)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
aerobic mesophilic organisms^a,	3.00	3.27 ± 0.04	3.02 ± 0.02	ND	4.54 ± 0.02	3.16 ± 0.11	3.41 ± 0.01	4.28 ± 0.02	4.73 ± 0.08
yeasts and molds^a,	2.00	< 3.00	ND	ND	2.57 ± 0.03	ND	ND	ND	ND
lactic acid bacteria^a,	2.00	< 3.00	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND
Enterobacteriaceae^a,	1.00	ND	ND	ND	< 2.00	ND	ND	ND	ND
coagulase-positive Staphylococcus^a,	1.00	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND
Bacillus spp. ^a,	2.00	3.15 ± 0.03	3.06 ± 0.02	ND	3.95 ± 0.01	2.23 ± 0.13	2.29 ± 0.03	3.77 ± 0.13	4.10 ± 0.01
sulphite-reducing clostridia spores^b,	0.48	1.63	ND	0.56	1.97	1.36	ND	1.88	2.18
Salmonella	ND in 5 g	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND

a Values are expressed as log₁₀ CFU/g ± standard deviation;

b Values are expressed as log₁₀ MPN/g; ND – not detected or lower than the LLOD of corresponding microorganism

a Keimzahlen werden angegeben als log₁₀ KBE/g ± Standardabweichung;

b Werte werden angegeben als log₁₀ MPN/g; ND – nicht detektierbar oder unter der LLOD des zu nachweisenden Mikroorganismus

Table 4

Bacteria and fungi identified in pot-pollen samples produced by stingless bees (Tetragonula biroi Friese) from the Philippines by partial 16S rDNA and 26S rDNA sequencing and/or MALDI-TOF MS

Tabelle 4. Identifizierung von Mikroorganismen isoliert aus Pollenproben von stachelloser Bienen (Tetragonula biroi Friese) von den Philippinen mittels 16S rDNA/26S rDNA Sequenzierung und/oder MALDI-TOF MS

Microorganism	Pollen sample^a,
Microorganism	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Bacteria
Bacillus cereus group^b,	13	3	2	3	3	4	3	3
Bacillus megaterium ^b	1		2	2	1	2	1
Bacillus subtilis^b	3		5	1	4	1	2	4
Bacillus amyloliquefacie ^b	1			3	1	2	1	1
Bacillus coagulans^c						1
Bacillus pumilus clade^{b, ,c,}	2	2		1	2	1	2	1
Bacillus flexus^b	1			2
Fictibacillus halophilus^c				1
Lysinibacillus fusiformis^{b, , c,}	1	1	1				1	2
Lysinibacillus macroides^c					1
Lysinibacillus sphaericus^c		2				1
Paenibacillus spp. ^c			1
Paenibacillus pabuli^c	1
Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus^b							1
Virgibacillus halophilus^c						1
Lactobacillus coryniformis^c								1
Pediococcus pentosaceus^b				1
Clostridium beijerinckii^b	3				1		3
Clostridium perfringens^b				4
Clostridium sordellii^b			1					2
Enterobacter hormaechei^b				2
Fungi
Alternaria sp. ^c					1
Aspergillus spp. ^c					1	1
Monascus ruber^c	1		1				1	1
Rhizopus spp. ^c				1

a Scores refer to the number of colonies identified for each microorganism in each sample;

b Microorganism was identified through MALDI-TOF MS analysis;

c Microorganism was identified through DNA analysis

a Werte beziehen sich auf die Anzahl der identifizierten Isolate pro Mikroorganismus und Probe;

b identifiziert mittels MALDI-TOF MS;

c identifiziert mittels DNA Analyse

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/boku-2020-0009 | Journal eISSN: 2719-5430 (formerly 0006-5471) | Journal ISSN: 0006-5471

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Language: English, German

Page range: 87 - 100

Submitted on: Mar 22, 2020

Accepted on: Jun 14, 2020

Published on: Oct 23, 2020

Published by: Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: Volume open

Keywords:

Pollen,

stingless bee,

inorganic contaminants,

microbiological quality,

safety

Related subjects:

Life sciences,

Ecology,

Life sciences, other

© 2020 Ma. Desiree Belina-Aldemita, Vera Fraberger, Matthias Schreiner, Konrad J. Domig, Stefano D’Amico, published by Universität für Bodenkultur Wien
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Volume 71 (2020): Issue 2 (June 2020)