Pollen composition and standardisation of analytical methods

SummaryHoney bee pollen is considered to be a food, and national pollen standards exist in different countries such as Brazil, Bulgaria, Poland and Switzerland. It is the aim of the present work to review pollen composition and the analytical methods used for the evaluation of high quality bee pollen. Based on the experience of different countries and on the results of published research, we propose quality criteria for bee pollen, hoping that in the future they will be used as world wide bee pollen standards.