Samburá: The fermented food of stingless bees on your table

Abstract

Stingless bees’ stock the foods of interest such as honey and samburá, a strategy that bees use to take advantage of flowering times, availability of nectar and pollen, and thus it is possible to guarantee food for the entire colony, allowing production and reproduction and survival of colonies in periods of scarcity. Information on composition, quality and consumption of samburá is still limited compared to Apis mellifera pollen. Thus, the aim of this study was to carry out a search for studies related to physicochemical and biological properties of samburá, a product of stingless bees. The methodology used to carry out the review was based on the search for publications in: E-Books Backlist, book chapters, scientific articles. The research was conducted in databases from the Web of Science, Science Direct, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Academic Google and PubMed, as well as in a social network dedicated to research such as ResearchGate and product sales sites. Keywords were used as: samburá, bee protein bread, bee bread, pollen, stored pollen, bee pollen, stingless bee pollen, pollen pots and native bee colony products. The samburá, pot pollen still does not have regulation, much less the standardization established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock – MAPA, being a product sold directly, generally from the beekeeper to the consumer and today through social networks and sales sites of some companies in the meliponiculture chain, and further research is needed on its characterization by biomes and geographic regions, and encouragement of public policies to legalize the product. The chemical characteristics of samburá favor health and well-being when used continuously, with high biological potential, antioxidant activities, but noting that it still needs technical regulation.