Health-Protecting Properties of Royal Jelly Derived from Lipids

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Contribution of Lipids in Honeybee (Apis mellifera) RoyalJelly to Health
J Med Food, 2013 Jan 25Honeybee (Apis mellifera) royal jelly (RJ) has a longhistory in human medicine because of its health-protecting properties. Todevelop a fundamental and comprehensive understanding of lipids in RJ, thisarticle reviews the available literature on lipid compounds identified from RJextracts and in vitro pharmacological effects of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid inRJ and other closely related compounds, some of which are also identified aslipid compounds in RJ. Overall, the lipids in RJ are composed of mostly (aliphatic)fatty acids, almost all of which are present as free fatty acids and scarcelyany as esters. Most fatty acids in RJ are medium-chain fatty acids, whetherhydroxylated in terminal and/or internal positions, terminated with mono- ordicarboxylic acid groups, and saturated or monounsaturated at the 2-position.Besides these fatty acids, lipids in RJ contain sterols in minor amounts.Lipids in RJ are useful as preventive and supportive medicines withfunctionalities that include potential inhibitors of cancer growth, immunesystem modulators, alternative therapies for menopause, skin-aging protectors,neurogenesis inducers, and more. Taken together, the evidence suggests that health-protectingproperties of RJ can be, in part, ascribed to actions of lipids in RJ.