Royal Jelly: Health Benefits and Uses in Medicine

Abstract

Royal jelly (RJ) is a thick and “milky” secretion from the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of young worker bees (Apis mellifera L.) and is used to feed the larvae. Due to the high content of bioactive compounds present in their composition, mainly peptides such as royalisin, jelleines, aspimin and royalactin, polyphenols principally phenolic acids and flavonoids, and lipids as 10-Hydroxy-2 Decenoic Acid. In addition, royal jelly exhibits lots of health-promoting properties such as antibacterial, antioxidant anti-inflammatory, vasodilative and hypotensive, hipocholesterolemiant and hepatoprotective, and antitumor among others. Therefore, royal jelly has been used extensively for improving human health in food and nutra- ceutical industries. This chapter will examine current literature on bioactive compounds content and health benefits of the royal jelly, with a particular focus given to their uses in medicine.