Antiviral Activity of Beebread, Bee-Collected Pollen and Artificially Fermented Pollen against Influenza A Virus

Abstract

Bee-collected pollen (BCP) and the naturally fermented BCP product known as bee bread (BB) are functional foods renowned for their nutritious, antioxidant, antibacterial and other therapeutic properties. This is the first study employed to assess the antiviral activity of BCP and BB against influenza A virus (IAV) H1N1 along with their proteinaceous, aqueous and n-butanol fractions. Additionally, artificially fermented BCP has been evaluated against IAV (H1N1). Antiviral activity was assessed in vitro by comparative real-time PCR assay. IC50 values ranged from 0.022 to 10.04 mg/mL, and Selectivity Index (SI) values ranged from 1.06 to 338.64. Artificially fermented BCP samples AF5 and AF17 demonstrated higher SI values than unfermented BCP, and proteinaceous fractions demonstrated the highest SI values. The chemical profile of BCP and BB samples, analyzed using NMR and LC-MS, revealed the presence of specialized metabolites that may contribute toward the antiviral activity. Overall, the significant anti-IAV activity of BB and BCP harvested in Thessaly (Greece) could be attributed to chemical composition (especially undiscovered yet proteinaceous compounds) and possibly to microbiome metabolism. Further research regarding the antiviral properties of BCP and BB will elucidate the mode of action and could lead to new treatments against IAV or other viral diseases.