BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON POLLEN GRAINS OF SOME MEDICINAL AND CLASSICAL PLANTS

A study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional effect of
pollens collected from some medicinal (palm, chamomile, coriander)
and classical (sunflower) plants. Therefore, the gross chemical
composition (ash, protein, lipid, total carbohydrate and fiber contents),
fatty acids, amino acids, polyphenol patterns were determined. The
results indicated that the gross chemical composition of pollens was
largely dependent on their botanical origin. The gas chromatographic
analysis of sunflower and palm pollens demonstrated that the most
predominant saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were 22:0, 18:3 and
22:0, 18:1, respectively. Chamomile pollens were characterized by the
highest concentrations of palmitic (12.73 %) and oleic (23.05%) acids
as saturated and unsaturated ones, respectively. The pollens of
coriander plants were distinguished by having the acids 16:0, 18:1 and
18:3 as major substances. The present results demonstrated that fatty
acids, taken a group, may provide a key for the identification of pollen
sources. The fatty acid patterns of pollens elucidated that the
atherogenic index of the different pollens was arranged in descending
order: chamomile > sunflower > coriander > palm. These findings
suggest the use of chamomile pollens as a supplement for elderly
people to overcome to some extent the corony heart disease.
Seventeen amino acids were identified in all pollens using amino acid
analyzer. In general, palm pollens contained the highest amounts of all
essential amino acids compared with other pollen sources. The least
limiting essential amino acids in all pollens were the sulfur amino
acids (methionine + cysteine). According to the chemical score values,
BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON POLLEN GRAINS OF SOME338
the quality of pollen proteins was arranged in the decreasing order:
palm > sunflower > chamomile = coriander.
HPLC chromatographic analysis indicated that chlorogenic acid
was the most abundant polyphenol compound in pollens. The levels of
chlorogenic acid in pollens were ranked in different plants according
to the descending order: coriander > sunflower > chamomile > palm.