Fortification of beef burger with the addition of bee pollen from Apis mellifera L.

The effect of adding bee pollen in beef burger on the oxidative stability was investigated. Antioxidant properties, chemical composition and vitamins were also determined. The antioxidant activity of bee pollen by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical-scavenging and β-carotene-linoleic acid methods were high. The predominant minerals in bee pollen were Mg, followed by Ca, K and Mn. Bee pollen can be considered a rich source of B6 vitamin (4.96 mg/100 g bee pollen) and the concentrations of vitamin B1 and B2 were 0.74 mg/100 g and 0.78 mg/100 g, respectively. Regarding lipid oxidation of beef burgers, assessed by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), it value increased at 2.09 mg malondialdehyde /kg of beef burger after 42 days storage at -12 °C. Beef burgers containing bee pollen extract inhibited 31.78 % of lipid oxidation at the end of the experiment. Thus, the strong anti-oxidative effect and high nutritive value of bee pollen suggests its potential application as natural antioxidant in meat products.