Processing, Nutritional and Antibacterial Properties of Honey and Bee Products

Dear Colleagues,

Bee products, including honey, bee pollen, bee bread, propolis, beeswax, and royal jelly, have long been an important part of the human diet and traditional medicine. In addition, the health benefits of new bee products—drone brood and beehive air—have been discovered in recent years. However, the biological potential, authenticity, and standardization of bee products are still not fully understood, which limits their therapeutic use. Recent concerns over adulteration and mislabelling of bee products highlight the need for robust authentication methods, while the lack of standardized quality parameters poses a challenge for their use in clinical research and functional food development.

The aim of this Special Issue is to gather cutting-edge research on the processing, bioactivity, antibacterial properties, authentication, and standardization of honey and other bee products. We particularly encourage submissions that shed light on how processing affects chemical composition and bioactivity, propose novel strategies for confirming authenticity and ensuring quality, and explore standardized approaches to enable reproducible research and therapeutic applications.

We welcome both review and original research articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Processing methods of honey and bee products and their influence on bioactive compounds;
• Nutritional properties of honey, bee pollen, bee bread, propolis, and royal jelly;
• Correlations between chemical composition, authenticity, and biological activity;
• In vitro, in vivo, and in silico studies on antibacterial and health-promoting effects;
• Authentication techniques and quality control (e.g., chemical markers, isotopic, spectroscopic, and molecular approaches);
• Standardization of bee products for research, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical applications;
• Applications of bee products in functional foods and adjunctive therapies.

Dr. Monika Tomczyk
Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Dzugan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.