engleski

Presence of sulfite-reducing Clostridia in bee pollen

The aim of this paper was to emphasize the importance of microbiological testing in food most often used raw. Microorganisms in the bee pollen, that most commonly contaminate dried food, mainly belong to sporogenic species of bacteria that can pose a danger to human health and these are most often bacteria of the genus Clostridium. Along with Clostridium botulinum, one of the most common isolates of this genus in samples of bee products, and especially bee pollen, is Clostridium perfringens. Bee pollen has a complex chemical composition and contains numerous vitamins, minerals, proteins, and amino acids. Collected fresh bee pollen contains a large proportion of moisture, as much as 35- 45 % and it needs to be dried and frozen. As bee pollen is used dissolved in water, tea or other beverages for several hours, favourable conditions are created for the growth and multiplication of bacteria. Bee pollen samples were tested according to the standard HRN ISO 15113:2003 – Horizontal method for determining the number of sulfite-reducing bacteria under anaerobic conditions. The paper presents the test results of Clostridium perfringens presence in bee pollen samples in relation to water activity. This study shows that bee pollen samples which are not sufficiently dried, frozen or adequately stored have a greater predisposition for Clostridium perfringens growth and propagation.

bee product ; Clostridium botulinum ; Clostridium perfringens ; propagation ; water activity

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