TITLE OF THE INVENTION PROCESS FOR THE OBTAINMENT_ OF A BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE BEE - PRODUCT

Tehnical Field

The présent invention relates to a process for the obtainment of a biologically active bee-product meant as food, containing vitalizing and regenerating substances, mainly amino-acids, hormones, vitamins and minerai salts. Use can also be made of the said process as described by the invention in order to obtain a bee-product employed as a most biologically active raw material in the apitherapeutic and coεmetic industry.

Prior Art

It is known that the food the nurse bées give to the three catégories of individuels» queen bee, worker bee and drone, during the first days of their embryonic development, is of identical quality and is known as royal jelly wkich is a purely glandular secretion greatly influencing their entire later metamorphosis in the larval and pupal stages.

After a first three-day long post-embryonic stage the worker and drone larvae are offered a kind of food which is qualitativety différent from the royal jelly, consisting of a nutritive mixture made of pollen, bee bread,honey and water (the worker develops from a fertilized egg and the drone from a non-fertilized one).

The larval stage of the drone lasts for 8 days, ie the eleventh day since the egg has been laid, when the cell is capped, the larva ceases to be fed from outside and the pupal stage starts and lasts for 11-12 days.

The differentiated feeding of the drone larvae in the larval stage leads, by the contribution of pollen, bee-bread and honey to an increase in the sugars and protein nutritive value of the substances contained in the cells of the drone larvae (Barac I et al. "Beebreeding", Editura Agrosilvicg., Buckarest 1965) Research works concerning the détermination of the Chem cal composition of bee larvae are also known (Dewey M.Caron, American Bee Journal, 1978, 389).

Summary of the invention

Taking into account the composition of the drone larvae , very rich in nutritive substances, the présent invention aims at obtaining a biologically active product summing up ail the nutri tive substances contained in the body of the drone larvae and in the larval food contained in the comb cells from which the larvae are picked up. consequently,the said process,as described by the inven tion, provides for the trituration of the drone larvae picked up in the lo-th day since the non-fertilized egg has been laid ,together with the whole content of the respective comb cells, homogenization and filtration of the triturate resulting in a ^,, fresh product" and when needed, the lyophilization of the mixture resulting in a "standard dehydrated product". Picklng up, trituration and filtration are to be made under sterile conditions.

The fresh product, obtained as stated above, will be kept at températures ranging between -5° to - 15°0.

This process can also be applied to queen bee larvae or to worker larvae, by modifying the date when larvae are picked up depending on the duration of individuel metamorphosis.

The physical and chemical characteriεtics of the larval triturate prior to lyophilisation are the folowing:

Aεpect : viscous and homogeneous mass with a fine granulation

Colour : white with a tendency of greyish-brownish shading.

Consistency : milky, ttnctuous, slightly viscous

Smell : characteristic of larval food, slightly flavoured

Taste : cream-like, slightly astringent without disagreeable sensations. Impurities : upon macroscopic analysis: pieces of wax, untriturated larvae, epithelia, Varoa mites or any matters of a nature other than that of the product as described by the invention are not admitted. upon mioroscopic analysis: pieces of larvae or epithelia are not admitted. Isola ted larval cells, pollen cells (maximum l-3o/ mioroscopic field), yeasts (maximum 25/ microscopic field) are admitted. pH 4,8 - 6,7 moisture content % 65 - 80 dry matters content g% 20 - 35 proteins, total g % 10 - 20 suga s, total g% 1,00-5,50 lipids, total. g % 5,00-6,30 ash g% 1,00-1,50 indeterminate matters g % 4,00-6,00 minimum diastase number g% 20,0 - 29,5 density 1,1 - 1,2 free aminoacids g% 1,0 - 1,3 glucidic structure of the product :

- glucose 3,16 % - 5 %

- fructose 0,03 % - 0,5 %

- saccharose 0,03 % - 0,5 %

Minerai salts

calcium mg% 14,00 magnésium mg % 2,00 phoεphorus mg% 190,00 iron mg % 3,23 copper mg% 1,10 manganese mg % 4,49 zinc mg % 5,54 sodium mg % 38,oo potassium mg % o,5o

Vitamins

Vitamin A o,54 UI/g betacarotene

(provitamin A) mg % o,426 xantophile mg % o,297

Vitamin B ₁ - under the dose limit

Vitamin B ₂ g % o,739

(739 gamma%)

Vitamin PP mg% 15,8

(nicotinic acid)

Cholin mg% 442,8

Amino-acids usine - o,75 g%, histidyne - o,33 g% arginine - o,51 g% aspartic acid - 1,5 g% threonine - o,41 g % serine - o,46 g% glutamic acid - 1,73 g % proline - o,8 g % glycine - o,84 g % alanine - o,66 g% valine - o,68 g % methyonine - 0,31 g % isoleucyne - 0,56 g % lβucyne - 0,95 g % tirosine - 0,45 g % phenylalanine - 0,46 g% cystine - none

(Total 11,4 g % amino-acids) The product also contains hormone-like compoundε, originating in the larval sexual structures, already developed the day the larvae are picked up.

Applicability of invention

The process, as described by the invention, makes possible the obtainment of a naturel biologically active product which can be used in human nourishment as such or in a 1-3 % honey mixture or in combination with several other bee-products (pollen, propolis etc) or with natural products εuch as extracts from aromatic plants.

It also makes possible the obtainment of a product to be used in apiculture by adding it in a 2 - 3 g ratio to one litre of stimulative syrup given to royal jelly producing colonies, resulting ing a significant increase of the. royal jelly yield per colony.

The process also enables the obtainment of a natural nutritive and bioregenerating product for the epidermis, usable in the cosmetic industry for nouriεhing beauty creams, lotions, sprays, etc.

In the industrial intensive poultry breeding System, the product obtained according to this invention can be uεed in fodder premixes, completing the mix-fodder recipes. For the corresponding development of o - 3o days old chicken the quality of food improved by using the product obtained according to the invention has a major rôle for the whole period of later development.

The process, as described by the invention, is highly valuable upon the enrichment of the range of aphitherapeutic products.