Beebread and honey are derived from plant materials, and like many plant materials, they contain a variety of phenolic chemicals. We eat them all the time; flavonoids are the plant chemicals that give plants their unique flavors and help plants discourage plant-eating insects, among other functions.
Royal jelly, however, has no detectable phenolic acids. From previous research, the researchers knew that flavonoids increase immune responses of adult worker bees. That's a good thing; it has the side effect of helping bees detoxify pesticides faster.
The scientists wondered how developing bees would react to phenolic compounds. To find out, they fed two groups of bee larvae diets with and without p-coumaric acid, a common type of flavonoid. Then they looked closely at differences in gene activation between the groups. The results were startling, unexpected, and nifty. Bees reared on the p-coumaric acid diet had ovaries significantly smaller than those reared without that compound.
That's the kicker, because what makes a queen bee a queen? She's the only bee in the hive laying eggs. Fourteen genes known to be involved in worker-queen differentiation were upregulated, or increased in expression. Queen bees also are bigger and live longer than worker bees. In one set of genes known to regulate organ size in animals, p-coumaric acid significantly changed the expression of over half of genes involved in that signaling pathway. Much to our surprise and delight, a whole suite of other genes that were implicated in caste determination changed.
I think … the idea of royal jelly is so appealing, people haven't really questioned it. With over four centuries of living with bees, why are humans still learning so much about them?
To answer that question, I reached out to Dr. Ryszard Maleszka at Australian National University. Maleszka, who is not an author of the new research, works specifically on honey bee epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of how environments affect gene expression.
Lots of factors go into making a queen beyond the plant chemicals examined in the new research: A compound with the wonderful name of royalactin , for example, has been proposed as critical to queen development. Maleszka has delivered a stinging rebuke to the idea that a single compound in royal jelly is the "switch" that makes a queen, though.
In , his lab was able to create queen bees without any royal jelly consumption, by turning off silencing a set of genes. All larvae are fed on royal jelly for the first few days of their lives — but the larvae selected to become queens are fed royal jelly after this initial period. Ordinary worker bees are fed pollen and honey as they develop. Why this is the case is still a mystery. Both worker bees and future queens are all produced from the same genetic material, and so in theory any of the eggs laid could develop into a new queen.
The difference between a queen and worker is down to which genes are turned off as they develop. It is genes which decide which proteins are made which in turn decide how our bodies are developed. So, by changing the environment of the individual larvae, the hive can decide who becomes a new queen.
But what is royal jelly? It is also known as bee milk, but it is not the consistency of milk. Rather it has the consistency of snot. It is secreted from glands in the heads of worker bees. Besides providing nutrition to bee larvae and queens, it is also used widely in the cosmetic industry and as a healthy supplement providing many benefits including: as an anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-aging agent. Besides being full of water, the approximate composition includes proteins, sugars, fats and other magic components.
But what exactly? We are not too sure, which is where the latest research and chromatography come in. A recently published paper reports on how chromatography could shed some light on this exotic compound. They managed to identify over 60 bioactive compounds in royal jelly from Greek bees. Most prominent were amino acids and saccharides.
Although these findings include compounds with many health benefits — the authors suggest that each geographical location would have its own royal jelly profile. More recently, Pope Pius XII was prescribed royal jelly from his physician to help him recover from a severe illness.
Today, royal jelly is used by more than royalty. Korea, Taiwan and Japan are also important producers and exporters. Royal jelly is a nutrient rich liquid.
It contains all the B vitamins, and traces of vitamin C. Royal jelly also contains collagen the major protein in our skin, hair, nails, bones, and veins , and several antioxidant enzymes.
As the current Queen of England attests, many of the royal jelly supplements sold today tout its ability to boost endurance and combat fatigue and stress. A Japanese study bolstered these claims, finding that the endurance of mice increased when they were fed fresh royal jelly. A study found that just. Leigh Broadhurst, Ph. Royal jelly has also been found to be highly antimicrobial, effective against yeast and bacteria.
A study conducted in Egypt demonstrated that royal jelly was capable of killing several different kinds of bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and E. In three different studies, rabbits fed a royal jelly supplement had increased fertility; quail reached sexual maturity faster and laid more eggs, and chickens had increased egg production. Royal jelly has also been used cosmetically.
It contains the protein collagen — what many think of as the key to youthful looking skin. Wrinkles form when our skin looses its collagen. In cosmetics, royal jelly is used to promote skin elasticity, regrowth and rejuvenation.
While formerly a specialty product, you can now find shampoo with royal jelly at Walmart, Target, Rite Aid, CVS, and in many other common retail outlets. This could be, perhaps, that there is less available funding for high quality research. Most of the research that does exist comes out of Asia, as it is used more regularly there than in the U.
Royal jelly is a perishable product, and purchasing a professionally processed product is recommended.
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