Dark Luzia Neto

By Karuane Saturnino da Silva Araújo, Dark Luzia dos Santos Neto and Sandra Maria Botelho Mariano

The use of substances with antioxidant ability can be very important in the therapeutic prevention of diseases related to increased oxidative stress, such as cancer, heart disease and aging. Brazil has a great diversity of vegetation from which bees can collect resins. This study is a systematic bibliographical review on different electronic scientific databases through descriptors of antioxidant activity of bee products from Brazil. The identification of the articles and their inclusion occurred between the months January to MayW 2016. The bibliographic research was conducted in the following electronic databases: (1) Scientific electronic library online—SciELO; (2) Public library of science—PLOS Medicine; and (3) ScienceDirect. The articles selected were the ones that contained antioxidant activity evaluation of bee products from Brazil during 2011 and 2016. It was possible to observe a large number of articles published in this topic, but a compilation of data from all of these studies was necessary. Given there is a great diversity of vegetation in Brazil, a standardization process of the bee products in Brazil was conducted and by means of this process it was possible to draw a profile of the main antioxidants found in apiculture products in Brazil.

Part of the book: Superfood and Functional Food

By Karuane Saturnino da Silva Araújo, Bruno Machado Araújo, Diego Carvalho Viana, Jailson Honorato, Virlane Kelly Lima Hunaldo, Ila Raquel Mello Cardoso, Dark Luzia dos Santos Neto, Leonardo Moreira de Oliveira, Eline Pacheco, Cláudia Lima Dias, Ivaneide de Oliveira Nascimento, Djany Souza Silva, Gerbeli de Mattos Salgado, José de Ribamar Macedo Costa, Jaisane Santos Melo Lobato and Sandra Maria Botelho Mariano

Brazil presents favorable conditions for beekeeping, having a suitable climate; native flowering plants with great potential for the production of honey, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly; and bees adapted to our conditions, tolerant to the main apicultural diseases and highly productive. Through the meliponiculture, the conservation of mainly native forest areas is allowed; therefore, they are the best environments for the creation of native bees and production of by-products of the beehive with quality. The stingless bees are very sensitive to any disturbance due to anthropogenic action. A systematic bibliographical review was carried out in different electronic databases, through descriptors referring to beekeeping in Brazil. The identification of articles and their inclusion occurred between January 2018 and April 2018. The bibliographic research was conducted in the following electronic databases: (1) Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), (2) Public Library of Science (PLOS) Biology, and (3) ScienceDirect. In order to help in the process of standardization of bee products and traceability of the production chain, it was possible to draw a profile of the main bioactive substances of the beehive products of Brazil. It was also possible to relate the benefits of an adequate management of beekeeping and meliponiculture in Brazil.

Part of the book: Beekeeping