Bees may hold the secret for better skin, according to a recent study in the Asian Journal of Beauty & Cosmetology.

Purpose

Bee pollen is largely composed of pollen gathered by worker bees and is well known as a complete nutritional food. Bee pollens are rich in protein (approximately 40%), free amino acids, and flavonoids. However, bee pollen is covered by an outer wall called exine, which is resistant to digestive enzymes, acids, and bases. Therefore, utilizing bee pollen for nutritional and medical purposes has been limited. In this study, we removed the exine layer with wet-grinding technology and evaluated its anti-oxidant activity, protective effects on skin fibroblasts, and potential clinical application as a cosmetic.

Methods

We prepared nano-sized bee pollen with wet-grinding technology and examined its radical scavenging activity and cell protective effects. We performed a clinical study after preparing the nano-sized bee pollen.

Results

Bee pollen showed good anti-oxidant activity, and 1% bee pollen reduced lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release 18.73% by skin fibroblasts. In addition, the clinical study showed that bee pollen had beneficial effects on skin roughness, hydration, transparency, wrinkles around the eyes, and the melanin index. Furthermore, bee pollen did not induce any adverse effects on the skin.

Conclusion

These data indicate that bee pollen is a good cosmetic resource that provides diverse beneficial effects to the skin.