Effect of bee pollen and propolis (bee glue) on growth performance and biomarkers of heat stress in broiler chickens reared under high ambient temperature

Bee Products for Poultry and Rabbits: Current Challenges and Perspectives

Poultry and rabbit production are important and rapidly growing agricultural subsectors, particularly in several developing countries. To ensure the sustainability of poultry and rabbit production, realistic poultry and rabbit farming practices must be improved. Apitherapy is a traditional alternative medicine that involves the prevention and treatment of some diseases with several bee products including propolis, royal jelly, pollen, and venom. More feeding investigations on the numerous benefits of bee products for poultry and rabbits are crucial to be addressed. Poultry and rabbit production has recently experienced numerous challenges, including climate change, disease spread, and antibiotic misuse. Improving animal welfare, health, and production is a top priority for all livestock farms, as is supplying consumers with safe and healthy products. Therefore, this review aims to collect and investigate recent relevant literature on the use of bee products, as feed additives, drinking water supplements, and injections, for poultry and rabbits to improve animal health and production. From the current findings, bee products can improve the growth and immunological performance of small-livestock animals, such as poultry and rabbits, by activating digestive enzymes, maintaining microbial balance, and promoting vitamin synthesis. Therefore, bee products could be a promising natural alternative to growth promoters, reproductive stimulants, and immunological enhancers in poultry and rabbit farms to provide safe and healthy products for humans.

EFFECTS OF BEE POLLEN INCLUSION ON PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF BROILER CHICKENS

This study was conducted to determine the effect of bee pollen (BP) inclusion on performance and carcass characteristics in broiler chickens. A total of 240 Ross 308 broiler chicks were allocated to 4 treatments (BP inclusion levels of 0, 4, 8, or 12 g/kg DM feed) in a randomized complete block design with sex as a block having 3 replicates with 10 chickens per replicate. After 21 d, the chickens remained in their treatment groups and fed standard grower diet. The results of the current study revealed that BP inclusion had positively improved (P < 0.05) average weekly feed intake (FI), body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) in both sexes. However, the apparent nutrient digestibility, metabolizable energy (ME), and nutrient digestibility were not affected by the dietary BP. Furthermore, carcass yield in both sexes was improved (P < 0.05) by BP inclusion levels. In contrast, meat pH, shear force, and sensory evaluation in both sexes were not affected (P > 0.05). The results suggest that the broiler chicks can utilize bioactive compounds in BP when supplemented in the starter diets and subsequently improve their growth parameters throughout the growing period as well as carcass yield at slaughter age. These positive improvements could be due to high quality amino acids, essential oils, vitamins, and minerals of BP. Therefore, it is concluded that BP inclusion level of 12 g/kg or more in the starter diets could have positive effects on growth performance and carcass yield at slaughter age without causing adverse effects on meat physico-chemical properties and sensory evaluation in both male and female broiler chickens.

COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on bees, beekeeping, and potential role of bee products as antiviral agents and immune enhancers

COVID-19 pandemic has passed to the front all the contradictions of the beekeeping sector: the valuable role of bee products as immune enhancers and antiviral agents and the impact that unsustainability of human activities has on bees' health and survival. The COVID-19 emergency led several countries to adopt severe restriction measures to contrast the infection. The lowering of industrial and commercial activities, transports, and the general lockdown had immediate consequences on the air quality, significantly improving environmental conditions. This had a positive impact on honeybees' life's quality. On the other hand, the bee and beehive transportation limitations threaten to hit food production by affecting the pollinator service, and this is particularly true in large, food-exporting countries like the USA and China where due to the few numbers of local bees, beekeepers import them by other countries and convey by truck hives for thousands of kilometers to pollinate crops. Furthermore, honeybee products, focusing on their natural pharmacological properties, can play an essential role as a potential natural contrast to the virus by enhancing the immunity defenses of both humans and animals, and their demand by consumers is expected to increase. Several researchers in the last months focused their attention on bee products to evaluate their effect in the cure of COVID-19 patients to ameliorate the symptoms or to contrast the coronavirus directly. This review reports these preliminary results.

Bee pollen as a dietary supplement for fish: Effect on the reproductive performance of zebrafish and the immunological response of their offspring

Bee pollen, a natural resource collected by bees, is rich in many nutrients, therefore it may represent a useful dietary supplement. Different uses of bee pollen are proposed due to its beneficial health properties, which includes the capacity to improve animal performance and promote immunostimulation. Animal nutrition can directly affect adults and their offspring, and larval stage is a critical moment for fish due to high mortality related to immune challenges. Thus, the present study attempted to evaluate the effects of adding bee pollen to a zebrafish diet, specifically, analyzing the effects on reproduction and immunity transference to descendants. Zebrafish adults received control diets based on commercial flakes and live food Artemia sp. nauplii or bee pollen-supplemented diets, administered three times a day, at the same time. The animals received the diets over 60 d, and throughout this period, they were tested for: egg production per female, total number of eggs, embryo viability rate, larval survival rate after exposure to spring viremia of carp virus and to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and larval neutrophil recruitment after tail wounding. Bee pollen supplementation failed to improve egg production and embryo viability, and was unable to substitute flakes in zebrafish breeders. Instead, the offspring of breeders fed with bee pollen supplemented diets showed longer survival upon virus exposure and higher neutrophil migration to wounds. These results indicate that bee pollen can influence vertical immunity through important mechanisms related to offspring immunity in the early stages, when larval immune system is not fully developed.

Testing the combined effects of probiotics and prebiotics against neurotoxic effects of propionic acid orally administered to rat pups

The present study investigated the combined effects of mixed probiotic and bee pollen on brain intoxication induced by propionic acid (PPA) in rat pups. Thirty western albino rats were divided into five groups, six animals each: (1) Control group receiving phosphate-buffered saline; (2) Probiotic and bee pollen-treated group being administered at the same dose with 200 mg/kg body weight; (c) PPA-treated group receiving a neurotoxic dose 250 mg/kg body weight of PPA for 3 days; (d) Therapeutic group being administered the neurotoxic dose of PPA followed by probiotic and bee pollen treatment 200 mg/kg body weight; (e) Protective group receiving probiotic and bee pollen mixture treatment followed by neurotoxic dose of PPA. Selected biochemical parameters linked to oxidative stress, energy metabolism, and neurotransmission were investigated in brain homogenates from all the five groups. PPA treatment showed an increase in oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxidation coupled with a significant decrease in glutathione level. Impaired energy metabolism was ascertained via the alteration of creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities. Dramatic increase of Na+ and K+ concentrations together with a decrease of GABA and IL-6 and an elevation of glutamate levels in PPA-treated rat's pups confirmed the neurotoxicity effect of PPA. Interestingly, the mixed probiotic and bee pollen treatment were effective in restoring the levels of glutamate, GABA, and IL-6 in addition to normalizing the levels of lipid peroxidation and glutathione and the activities of CK and LDH. The present study indicates that mixed probiotic and bee pollen treatment can improve poor detoxification, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation as mechanisms implicated in the etiology of autism.

The Application of Pollen as a Functional Food and Feed Ingredient-The Present and Perspectives

Pollen is recognized as an excellent dietary supplement for human nutrition, which is why it can be found in different forms on the market (granules, capsules, tablets, pellets, and powders). But, the digestibility of pollen’s nutrients is strongly affected by the presence of a pollen shell, which can decrease the bioavailability of nutrients by 50% and more. Since consumers have become more aware of the benefits of a healthy diet and the necessity to improve pollen digestibility, different pollen-based functional food products have been developed and extensive studies were done to estimate the beneficial effects of pollen-based feed on animal growth, health, and rigor mortise stage. Considering the positive effects of pollen nutrients and phytometabolites on human and animal health, the aim of this paper was to give an overview of recent achievements in the application of pollen in the formulation of functional food and animal diets. Special attention was paid to the effects of pollen’s addition on the nutritional, functional, techno-functional, and sensory properties of the new formulated food products. Anti-nutritional properties of pollen were also discussed. This review points out the benefits of pollen addition to food and feed and the possible directions in the further development of functional food and feed for the wellbeing of everyone.

Bee pollen improves productivity of laying Japanese quails

SUMMARY This study aimed to evaluate the effects of bee pollen (BP) on the performance of laying Japanese quails and egg quality. A total of 60 quails were used in a completely randomized experimental design with four treatments (0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% BP inclusion in diets) and five replicates. At the end of the study, productive performance and egg quality were evaluated; 160 eggs were maintained at different temperatures based on a completely randomized design and factorial arrangement (4 × 2), with four BP levels (cited above) and two storage temperatures (room temperature and refrigeration) for 14 days, totaling eight treatments with four replicates. BP levels did not influence (P> 0.05) feed conversion; however, daily feed intake, laying rate, egg mass, and weight and percentage of albumen increased. Yolk percentage decreased due to the augmentation of BP in diets. There was no effect (P> 0.05) of interaction of storage temperature × BP levels on egg quality, except with regard to the Haugh unit. BP supplementation resulted in higher egg weight and index of yolk and albumen. Refrigerated eggs had better internal quality than normal eggs. BP inclusion in diets of Japanese quails improved bird performance and the quality of fresh and stored eggs.

Intestinal Morphology in Broiler Chickens Supplemented with Propolis and Bee Pollen

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of dietary supplementation with propolis and bee pollen on the intestinal morphology and absorptive surface areas of chickens. Two hundred day-old Ross 308 chickens (100 male and 100 female) were equally allocated into five groups. Throughout the whole study, the control group of chickens was fed with a basal diet, while the experimental groups of chickens were fed with the same diet supplemented with propolis and bee pollen: P1 = 0.25 g of propolis/kg + 20 g of bee pollen/kg; P2 = 0.5 g of propolis/kg; P3 = 1.0 g of propolis/kg; P4 = 20 g of bee pollen/kg. The duodenal villi of chickens from all experimental groups were significantly higher and wider (p < 0.001), while their duodenal villi crypts were significantly deeper (p < 0.001) in comparison with these parameters in chickens from the control group. The villus height to crypt depth ratio, as well as the absorptive surface areas of broiler chickens, were significantly increased (p < 0.001) in experimental groups of chickens in comparison with the control group. These findings suggest that dietary supplementation with propolis and bee pollen has a beneficial effect on broilers chickens' intestinal morphophysiology.

Beneficial impacts of bee pollen in animal production, reproduction and health

Bee pollen (BP) is one of the most useful therapeutic products favoured by natural medicine scientists because of its possible nutritional and medical applications. It exhibits many impacts such as antimicrobial, immunostimulating, antioxidants and hepatoprotective. Furthermore, BP has some useful therapeutic features in numerous pathological situations such as its impact to normalize wound healing. Based on previous literatures, the level of BP supplement in livestock and poultry ranged from 0.1 to 20 g/kg diet. This variation depends on the species, physiological status, age and purpose of addition; so far generally, it accepted to use the level with no side effects. It has been observed that BP enhanced growth performance, immunity responses and blood variables and had hypoglycaemic activity by reducing the lipid in the blood and carcass. Also, BP contains more nutrients, which stimulate faster differentiation and proliferation of the cells of immune system of birds. Therefore, the present review recommends that BP supplementation (up to 20 g/kg diet) had possible beneficial impacts, antioxidants and protective activities on most of the production, productive and health patterns of livestock.