Pine pollen, also known as pine flower, pine yellow, light yellow powder, is the dry pollen (male germ cell) of Pinus massoniana Lamb., Pinus tabuli formis Carr.and several plants of the same genus. It has a sweet taste, has the functions of astringency, hemostasis, eleminating the dampness and sores. It is used to treat trauma, bleeding, wet pain, yellow water sore, skin erosion and pus dripping [1-2]. Pine pollen powder is the pollen varieties with a long history of both medicine and food. And it was firstly recorded in “Shennong Materia Medica” and listed as “Top grade”,and later in Tang Materia Medica, Compendium of Materia Medica, New Compilation of Materia Medica and other traditional medical works [3]. Pine pollen powder is a typical wind medium pollen with air sac. It is the only edible non bee source pollen in the market at present, with good taste, single flower source, pure quality, stable ingredients, no agricultural residues, no animal hormones, easy to accept and other excellent characteristics [4].
The cell wall of pine pollen is resistant to acid, alkali, high temperature, high pressure and corrosion, which is very solid. Its nutrients can only be fully absorbed and utilized by human body after breaking the cell wall. With the continuous development of high-speed air flow wall breaking method, low-temperature wind tunnel wall breaking technology, air flow ultra-fine crushing technology and other advanced wall breaking technology, the cell wall cracking rate can be as high as 99%, the particle size is less than 5 μ m (less than human cells), which can be directly absorbed and utilized by the human body, and the inside nutrition can be sent to all parts of the body with a better health care effect. Pine pollen powder is rich in nutrients and active ingredients, and is a high-quality raw material for food, health food and medicine [8]. In 1985, pine pollen was included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. In 1997, the Ministry of Health listed pine pollen as a new resource variety, and in 1998 it was listed as common food management [9].In this article, the research progress of the active components of pine pollen powder was introduced, in order to provide a theoretical basis and reference for those who are curious about pine pollen nutrition composition and their benefits.
Pine pollen powder contains almost all the health function factors needed by human body. In addition to rich nutrition components, it also contains nearly 100 kinds of enzymes and coenzymes, flavonoids, bioactive peptides, nucleic acids, phospholipids, sterols, choline, carotenoids and other active ingredients. It has a very high value of food, beauty, nutrition and health care, and is widely concerned by scholars over the world.
Polysaccharide and Crude Fiber
The content of polysaccharide in pine pollen was 3.54% ~ 19.64%. Polysaccharide is not only one of the main components of pine pollen, but also one of the important indicators to measure the quality of pine pollen [11]. It has many health functions, such as improving immunity [12], protecting liver and protecting liver [13], antioxidant [14], hypoglycemic [15], antitumor [16]. The researches showed that the contents and types of polysaccharide, protein, fat and other nutrients in different varieties of pine pollen were also different [17]. Pine pollen is rich in dietary fiber, which is 29.80% ~ 39.21%. Diet fiber is known as “the seventh nutrient of human being”, which has the functions of anti-oxidation [18], reducing blood fat [19], reducing blood pressure [20], defecating [21], reducing weight [22].
Protein and Amino Acids
Pine pollen powder is rich in protein (10.00% ~ 24.44%) and amino acids (8 essential amino acids). Pine pollen has the reputation of “concentrated body of amino acids”, containing 20-22 kinds of amino acids, which has a high nutritional and health value. The contents and types of protein and amino acid in different varieties are also different.
Fat and Fatty Acid
The content of crude fat in pine pollen powder is 5% ~ 10%, which contains many kinds of unsaturated fatty acids. More than 20 kinds of unsaturated fatty acids have been found, accounting for 72.5% of the total fatty acids [9]. Unsaturated fatty acids have many health functions, such as regulating blood lipid [23], anti-tumor [24], clearing thrombus [25], immune regulation [26], improving eyesight [27], brain tonifying and brain strengthening [28]. Scott et al. [29] found that pine pollen contains 7.5% ~ 9.0% fatty acids, mainly composed of oleic acid and linoleic acid. In addition, the results showed that the fat content, fatty acid type, ratio of saturated fatty acid to unsaturated fatty acid of different pine pollens were also different 17].
Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamin is known as “omnipotent medicine”, which can promote the growth and development of human body and balance the physiological function of human body [30]. Mineral is the general term of various elements necessary for the formation of human body tissues and the maintenance of normal physiological function, and is one of the seven essential nutrients for human body. Minerals can’t be synthesized by themselves. They must be ingested externally. They are important components of body tissues, activators, cofactors or components of various enzymes. They have physiological functions such as maintaining acid-base balance and conducting nerve impulses.
Pine pollen powder is rich in vitamins and minerals, known as “natural vitamin pill” and “trace element bank”. It contains 15 kinds of vitamins, such as VA, VB1, VB2, VB6, VC, VD, VE, VK and VP (among them, VA content is 5050-70641.6i U / 100g, VC content is 9-9200 mg / 100g, VE content is 22.8-308 mg / 100g), major elements such as phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium, as well as manganese Iron, zinc, copper, selenium, chromium, lead, nickel, cadmium and other trace elements. Among them, copper content is 5.13-8.30 mg/kg, zinc content is 33.59-56.95 mg/kg, calcium content is 1339.50-2124.25 mg/kg, iron content is 189.75-365.90 mg/kg, manganese content is 13.98-19.22 mg/kg, magnesium content is 158.25-1930.50 mg/kg, potassium content is 5723.00-12680.00 mg/kg [17, 31].
Enzymes and Coenzymes
There are nearly 100 enzymes and coenzymes in pine pollen. Enzyme is a kind of organic substance produced by living cells, which has catalytic effect, can promote metabolism and make all the chemical reactions related to life go on smoothly. It is also called biocatalyst. Coenzyme is a derivative of vitamin, which plays the role of transferring electron and atom groups in enzyme catalytic reaction. It is an essential factor for enzyme catalytic redox reaction, group transfer and isomerization. The research on the enzymes in pollen is relatively early, and Gumber et al. [33] were the first to study the enzymes in pine pollen. They found myo inositol-1-phosphate synthetase from pine pollen powder. In addition, a protein kinase was found in pine pollen, which plays a role in nucleic acid through calcium regulatory protein [34]. Fan Guodong et al. [35] measured the contents of 9 kinds of bioactive enzymes and 1 kind of coenzyme in cell cracked pine pollen powder. The results showed that there were α-amylase 2 032.15 mg/g, glucoamylase 154.37 mg/g, cellulase 586.00 mg/g, glucose oxidase 4.75 mg/g, proteolytic enzyme 164.95 mg/g, lipase 23.30 mg/g, alkaline phosphatase 126.26 mg / g, catalase 6690.14 mg/g, superoxide dismutase 2.371 mg/g, coenzyme A 40.97 mg/g.
Flavonoids
Flavonoids is one of the important active components of pine pollen. It has the functions of anti-oxidation [36], anti fatigue [37], protecting liver and protecting liver [38], etc. the contents and types of flavonoids in different varieties of pine pollen powder are also different. Also the content of flavonoids after breaking the cell wall is higher than before [39]. It has been found that the main flavonoids in Yunnan pine pollen powder are flavonoids, flavonols, dihydroflavonols and a small amount of flavanols, and the total flavonoids content of broken Yunnan pine pollen is 510 mg / 100 g [40-41] by UV spectrophotometry. Li Li et al. [42] used the method of repeated column chromatography, spectral data and physical and chemical properties identification for the first time and isolated 3,3 ′, 5,5 ′, 7-pentahydroxydihydroflavonol, dihydrokaempferol and other flavonoids from the pollen of Pinus massoniana. In addition, researchers also extracted galangin, rutin, quercetin, kaempferol and other flavonoids from pine pollen powder[43]. Tang Yu et al. [44] isolated 7 flavonoids from the pollen of Pinus massoniana, including naringin, Douglas fir, chalcone, isorhamnetin 3-o-β-d-glucopyranoside, kaempferol 3-o-β-d-glucopyranoside, dihydrokaempferol, and the first 5 flavonoids were found in the pollen of Pinus massoniana.
Bioactive Peptide
Pine pollen powder is rich in free bioactive peptide (BAP), which is a kind of peptide compound with relative molecular weight less than 6000 Da, easy to be digested and absorbed by human body, beneficial to life activities of biological body or with various functions of metabolism and physiological regulation of human body. It has many health functions such as anti-oxidation [45], anti-tumor, blood pressure reduction and so on. It is the current research in food field Hot spots and promising functional factors. A study isolated a bioactive peptide with a peak molecular weight of 16 kD from Masson pine pollen powder by using the method of salting out, dialysis, ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. It was found that the purified fraction could promote the proliferation of spleen cells and inhibit the growth of HpG2 in hepatoma cells [46].
Nucleic Acid and Cholines
Pine pollen powder is the carrier of nucleic acid. It contains RNA and DNA. It is one of the important active ingredients of anti-aging in human body. It has the functions of promoting cell regeneration, preventing cell aging and various chronic diseases. Some studies have shown that the content of RNA and DNA in pollen is 80.30 mg/100g and 18.30mg/100g [47]. Choline is a nitrogen-containing organic basic compound, which is an important component of biofilm. It has the functions of promoting brain development, improving memory, ensuring information transmission, regulating cell apoptosis, promoting fat metabolism, promoting metabolism of methyl transfer in vivo, reducing serum cholesterol and so on. It has been found that the choline in pine pollen can reach 268 mg/100g [48].
Sterols and Phospholipids
Phytosterols are widely found in the roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds of plants, which are the components of plant cell membrane. They are contained in all oils from plant seeds. Sterols are an important natural active substance, which have the functions of preventing cardiovascular diseases, anti-tumor, anti-oxidation [49], promoting metabolism, regulating hormone level and so on. The extraction of pine pollen by supercritical CO2 was optimized by single factor and orthogonal experiments. Under the optimum extraction conditions, the sterol yield was as high as 11.28% [50]. Sun Yangen et al. [51] extracted the phytosterols from the broken wall masson pine pollen by n-hexane ultrasonic extraction, the content was 1.680 mg / g, and identified eight phytosterols by GC-MS for the first time. Phospholipid is the main component of biomembrane, which has many physiological functions such as activating cells, maintaining metabolism, balancing hormone secretion, enhancing immunity and so on. Zhi Chongyuan et al. [52] compared the nutritional components of the pollens of Picea wilsanii, Pinus tabuliformi, Pinus bungean and Pinus thunbergiie. The results showed that the phospholipid content of the pollens of the four kinds of pine was 4.57, 5.74, 5.51 and 3.49g /100 g respectively.
Beta Carotenes
Pine pollen powder is also rich in beta carotene. Beta carotene is one of the carotenoids. It is an orange fat soluble compound. It is the most common and stable natural pigment in nature. It is also an antioxidant. It has the function of detoxification. It is an indispensable nutrient for maintaining human health. It has many health functions such as anti-tumor, prevention of cardiovascular disease, anti-oxidation, anti-aging and so on [53]. The content of beta carotene in pollen of Pinus yunnanensis was determined by HPLC. The results showed that the content of beta carotene was 9.98 mg/100g [54].
Pine pollen powder has comprehensive nutrition, rich content, balanced and reasonable collocation, contains more than 200 kinds of active ingredients, and has the reputation of “super miniature concentrated nutrition bank”. With the continuous progress of science and technology, as well as the in-depth research on the nutrient composition and health care function of pine pollen by scientific researchers and enterprise researchers, people also have a deeper understanding of pine pollen. With high purity and no pollution, pine pollen, known as “gold powder in the green treasure house” and “the most ideal nutrition source in the 21st century”, has gradually become the best product for people’s daily nutrition and health care. It is widely used in food, health food, medicine, weight loss and other fields [55]. The description and analysis of the active components of pine pollen in this article could help our users to better understand the pine pollen and its efficacy, and provide reference for users make decisions.
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