ROYAL JELLY | Herbs and Aromatic Plants Messinia

ROYAL JELLY

Royal jelly is a creamy white substance with a distinctive smell and a slightly bitter taste, which is secreted from the glands of young worker bees. It is strongly acidic and extremely nutritious. In 1788, the famous Swiss naturalist François Huber named this substance royal jelly due to the fact that the larvae are destined to become queens and that the adult queen bees feed exclusively on large amounts of royal jelly. The nutritional benefits of royal jelly have been known for thousands of years. The Ancient Greeks refer to ambrosia, the food of the Gods. Ambrosia contained royal jelly and believed that it offered immortality to the Gods of Olympus. The most common way of harvesting royal jelly in Greece is by collecting it from the queen cells or the honeycomb the honeycomb during spring and early

summer. The color of royal jelly is very important because it indicates freshness and suitability. Fresh royal jelly has a bright white color. However, when it is exposed to air or light, its color changes into bright yellow and dark grey. This change is due to enzymes, which oxidize some substances of royal jelly and spoil it. Its texture is thick and gelatinous, which over time solidifies. Royal jelly is a valuable apicultural product that can be used as a dietary supplement and medicine.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

The high nutritional value and the biological properties of royal jelly are due its special composition. The main ingredients are water, proteins, sugars, lipids and mineral salts. What is very characteristic of royal jelly is its high content in vitamins. Royal jelly provides a range of nutritional, energetic and metabolic benefits. It has a positive effect on longevity, helping maintain health, beauty and youth. Furthermore, it benefits tissue oxygenation, and stimulates appetite and mood. It also increases the production of red blood cells, acts as an analgesic and can be used in rheumatism pains and kidney symptoms that occur during pregnancy as well as in the development of premature children. Moreover royal jelly stimulates the antibiotic activity of the immune system, preventing the invasion and activity of harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi. Royal jelly is recommended either for people facing a health problem or who are recovering from an illness. The consumption of royal jelly gives healthy people a better physical condition, greater stamina during intensive activities and generally strengthens the overall condition of the body against various attacks.

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