How can the protein and amino acid composition of bee pollen be preserved during long storage at ambient temperature?

Bee pollen is a healthful food product with nutritional and therapeutic properties. The high moisture content in bee pollen during traditional storage conditions often leads to product degradation. The present study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of ozone treatment and gamma irradiation as methods for healthily preserving bee pollen, to maintain its nutritional properties during storage for 6 months at ambient temperature. For this purpose, ozone treatment at a dosage of 0.03 µg/L and gamma radiation at a dosage of 7.5 kGy were performed on maize and Egyptian clover bee pollens, and then they were preserved at ambient temperature for 6 months. Protein and amino acid composition in bee pollens were determined. In comparison with the fresh bee pollen, insignificant changes in crude protein content, total amino acids, total essential amino acids, and total non-essential amino acids of bee pollen treated with ozone and gamma radiation occurred after 6 months of storage at ambient temperature. In comparison with the fresh bee pollen, histidine was significantly (p < 0.05) decreased, while arginine was significantly (p < 0.05) increased in treated Egyptian clover bee pollen after 6 months of storage. It can be inferred that ozone treatment or gamma irradiation can be applied to maintain the protein and amino acids in bee pollen during storage for 6 months at ambient temperature.