Beeswax (E 901) as a glazing agent and as carrier for flavours - Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Food additives, Flavourings, Processing aids and Materials in Contact with Food (AFC)

Evaluation of environmental contamination in beeswax products

Beeswaxes are used as a coating agent or as a wrapping material for food products making them potentially ingested by consumers. There is no regulation yet in Europe giving maximum levels of contaminants in this type of product. Nevertheless, being a natural product, they are exposed to environmental pollution, thus it appears necessary to establish their contamination rate in order to evaluate potential human exposure. In this study, a method of extraction of different environmental contaminants including pesticides, phthalates, PAHs and phenols was developed. Based on a hot Soxhlet extraction, followed by cleaning steps, the method was validated for the quantitation of the cited contaminants by LC-MS/MS and GC-(MS)/MS. Three different types of waxes were analyzed including typical white waxes (Cera Alba) and yellow waxes (Cera Flava). It was shown that all waxes had the presence of at least one contaminant and that phthalates, in particular DEHP, was present in all beeswax samples. Insecticides were found in majority among all the classes of pesticides screened. The yellow waxes were found to be contaminated with the highest rates of PAHs (60%), pesticides (75%) and phenols (40%). The detection frequency of PAHs, in contrast to phthalates, was the lowest for all the types of waxes combined.

Seasonal screening of pesticide residues in beehive products collected from different districts in Egypt

Pesticides are of immense importance in agriculture, but they might contaminate bees' products. In this study, samples of honey, pollen, and beeswax were collected, seasonally, from apiaries in Toshka (Aswan), El-Noubariya (El-Beheira), and Ismailia (Ismailia) cities in Egypt. The pesticide residues were analyzed using the GC-MS after being extracted and cleaned using the QuEChERS method. Results showed that samples from El-Noubariya had great content of residues followed by Ismailia, and finally Toshka. Samples collected during fall and winter had the highest pesticide residue contents. Specifically, the phenylconazole fungicide group was repeatedly detected in all the examined samples along with organophosphate insecticides. Beeswax samples had the greatest amounts of pesticide residues followed by pollen and then honey samples. Chlorpyrifos (0.07-39.16 ng/g) and profenofos (1.94-17.00 ng/g) were detected in honey samples and their products. Pyriproxyfen (57.12 ng/g) and chlorpyrifos-methyl (39.16 ng/g) were detected in great amounts in beeswax samples from Ismailia and El-Noubariya, respectively. Yet, according to health hazard and quotient studies, the amounts of pesticides detected in honey do not pose any health threats to humans.

Assessment of Beeswax Adulteration by Paraffin and Stearic Acid Using ATR-IR Spectroscopy and Multivariate Statistics-An Analytical Method to Detect Fraud

A spectroscopic investigation of beeswax adulteration by paraffin and/or stearic acid was undertaken via Attenuated Total Reflectance Infra-Red spectroscopy (ATR-IR) combined with multivariate statistical analyses. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was successfully applied for the first time as an exploratory tool for the differentiation among pure beeswax and adulterated beeswax by paraffin and stearic acid with detection limits (LOD) of ~5% and 1%, respectively. Partial Least Square (PLS) modelling was used to build chemometric models based on beeswax/paraffin and beeswax/stearic acid calibration mixtures and subsequently used to predict concentrations of paraffin and stearic acid on a set of unknown test samples. PLS predictions demonstrated that beeswax adulteration by paraffin is much more prominent (74%) than the one by stearic acid (26%) and that commercial beeswax products (candles, pearls, blocks, etc.) are more prone to adulteration (27%) than honeycomb-type samples (12.5%).

Food-Grade Oleogels: Trends in Analysis, Characterization, and Applicability

Currently, a large number of scientific articles can be found in the research literature in the field focusing on the use of oleogels for food formulation to improve their nutritional properties. The present review focuses on the most representative food-grade oleogels, highlighting current trends in terms of the most suitable methods of analysis and characterization, as well as trends in their application as substitutes for saturated and trans fats in foods. For this purpose, the physicochemical properties, structure, and composition of some oleogelators are primarily discussed, along with the adequacy of oleogel incorporation for use in edible products. Analysis and characterization of oleogels by different methods are important in the formulation of innovative foods, and therefore, this review discusses the most recent published results regarding their microstructure, rheological and textural properties, and oxidative stability. Last but not least, issues related to the sensory properties of oleogel-based foods are discussed, highlighting also the consumer acceptability of some of them.

Printing Optimization of 3D Structure with Lard-like Texture Using a Beeswax-Based Oleogels

In this study, we investigated the optimal conditions for 3D structure printing of alternative fats that have the textural properties of lard using beeswax (BW)-based oleogel by a statistical analysis. Products printed with over 15% BW oleogel at 50% and 75% infill level (IL) showed high printing accuracy with the lowest dimensional printing deviation for the designed model. The hardness, cohesion, and adhesion of printed samples were influenced by BW concentration and infill level. For multi-response optimization, fixed target values (hardness, adhesiveness, and cohesiveness) were applied with lard printed at 75% IL. The preparation parameters obtained as a result of multiple reaction prediction were 58.9% IL and 16.0% BW, and printing with this oleogel achieved fixed target values similar to those of lard. In conclusion, our study shows that 3D printing based on the BW oleogel system produces complex internal structures that allow adjustment of the textural properties of the printed samples, and BW oleogels could potentially serve as an excellent replacement for fat.

Bee Products: An Emblematic Example of Underutilized Sources of Bioactive Compounds

Beside honey, honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) are able to produce many byproducts, including bee pollen, propolis, bee bread, royal jelly, and beeswax. Even if the medicinal properties of these byproducts have been recognized for thousands of years by the ancient civilizations, in the modern era, they have a limited use, essentially as nutritional supplements or health products. However, these natural products are excellent sources of bioactive compounds, macro- and micronutrients, that, in a synergistic way, confer multiple biological activities to these byproducts, such as, for example, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. This work aims to update the chemical and phytochemical composition of bee pollen, propolis, bee bread, royal jelly, and beeswax and to summarize the main effects exerted by these byproducts on human health, from the anticancer and immune-modulatory activities to the antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, hypotensive, and anti-allergic properties.

Evaluation of Structural Behavior in the Process Dynamics of Oleogel-Based Tender Dough Products

The current trend is represented by replacing solid fats with structured liquid oil while maintaining the plastic properties of food products. In this study, the behavior of refined sunflower oil structured with various agents (carnauba wax-CRW, β-sitosterol:beeswax-BS:BW, β-sitosterol:lecithin-BS:LEC, and glycerol monostearate-GM) was evaluated in the process dynamics of oleogel-based tender dough products. The oleogel with the mixture of β-sitosterol:beeswax (OG_BS:BW) displayed the highest capacity to retain oil inside the matrix with a percentage of oil loss as low as 0.05% and also had a significantly higher hardness (6.37 N) than the reference, a commercial margarine (MR—3.58 N). During cooling from 90 to 4 °C, the increase in oleogel’ viscosity results from oleogelator’s liquid–solid phase transition. As demonstrated by the frequency sweeps performed, storage modulus G′ was higher than loss modulus G″, no cross-over points were observed, and the strongest gel network was for the oleogel with glycerol monostearate (OG_GM). Regarding the dough, the sample prepared using the oleogel with carnauba wax (D_CRW) showed the strongest hardness (92.49 N) compared to the reference (D_MR—21.80 N). All the oleogel-containing doughs had elastic solid-like behavior. The samples with margarine (D_MR) and the mixture of β-sitosterol:lecithin (D_BS:LEC) presented the lowest value of both moduli of G’ and G” during the frequency sweep. The biscuits formulated with commercial margarine (B_MR) registered a hardness of 28.74 N. Samples with oleogels showed a specific tenderness for tender dough products, thus being suitable for this type of product (11.22–20.97 N).

Biomonitoring of element contamination in bees and beehive products in the Rome province (Italy)

In this study, we determined the levels of elements (i.e. As, Be, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb, U, and Zn) in bees and edible beehive products (honey, wax, pollen, and propolis) sampled from five selected sites in the Rome province (Italy).

RATIONALE

to increase the information variety endowment, the monitoring breakdown structure (MBS) conceptual model was used (nine elements, 429 samples, and approximately thirteen thousand determinations over a 1-year survey). Thus, we employed Johnson's probabilistic method to build the control charts. Then, we measured the element concentration overlap ranges and the overlap bioaccumulation index (OBI). Subsequently, we evaluated the estimated daily intake (EDI) of the analysed elements and matched them with acceptable reference doses. The human health risk caused by the intake of individual elements found in edible beehive products and their risk summation were evaluated through the target hazard quotient (THQ) and hazard index (HI) methods.

FINDINGS

excluding honey, this study confirms the capacity of wax, pollen, propolis, and bees to accumulate high levels of toxic and potentially toxic elements from the surrounding environment (with high OBI-U, i.e. OBI-Upper values, i.e. the common upper concentration limit of the overlap concentration range). Bees and pollen showed a high bioaccumulation Cd surplus (OBI-U = 44.0 and 22.3, respectively). On the contrary, honey had high OBI-L values (i.e. honey concentrates metals several times less than the common lower concentration limit of the overlap concentration range). This finding implies that honey is useless as an environmental indicator compared with the other biomonitor/indicators. The EDI values for the edible beehive products were lower than the health and safety reference doses for all the considered elements. Our data show that honey, wax, propolis, and pollen are safe for consumption by both adults and children (THQ < 1; HI < 1), even considering the sporadic possibility of consuming them simultaneously.

ORIGINALITY

This study has been conducted for the first time in the Rome province and demonstrates that edible indicators are safe for consumption for the considered elements in bees and edible beehive products. Depending on the ecosystem/pollutants studied, the OBI consents to make a correct choice for environmental biomonitoring studies and to focus the attention on the most sensitive biomonitors/indicators when required at the project level.

Adulteration of beeswax: A first nationwide survey from Belgium

Beeswax is intended for use in the beekeeping sector but also in the agro-food, pharmaceutical or cosmetics sectors. The adulteration of beeswax is an emerging issue that was reported lately at several occasions in the scientific literature. This issue tends to become more frequent and global, but its exact extent is not accurately defined. The present study aims to assess the current situation in Belgium through a nationwide survey. Randomized beeswax samples originating from Belgian beekeepers (N = 98) and commercial suppliers (N = 9) were analysed with a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) coupled with Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) accessory (FTIR-ATR spectroscopy) for adulteration. The survey revealed a frequency of 9.2% and 33.3% of adulteration in beekeepers beeswax samples (9 samples out of 98: 2 with paraffin and 7 with stearin/stearic acid) and commercial beeswax samples (3 samples out of 9: all adulterated with stearin/stearic acid), respectively. The analysed samples were adulterated with various percentages of paraffin (12 to 78.8%) and stearin/stearic acid (1.2 to 20.8%). This survey indicates that in the beekeepers samples, beeswax adulteration was more frequent in comb foundation and crude beeswax than in comb wax. With the example of this nationwide survey conducted in Belgium, this study shows the emergence of the issue and the urgent need for action to safeguard the health of both honey bees health and humans, in particular with the setting of a proper regulation legal framework and a specific routine analytical testing of commercial beeswax to ensure beeswax quality.