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Latest Advances in Beehive Products
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Latest Advances in Beehive Products

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 December 2026 | Viewed by 3417

Editors

Dr. Xiaoming Fang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Agicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
Interests: bee products; processing; high-value utilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xiangxin Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
Interests: bee products; nutrition; high-value utilization; gels
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bee products, such as honey, propolis, royal jelly, bee pollen, and beeswax, have long been valued for their nutritional and medicinal properties. These natural substances are rich in bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, flavonoids, peptides, and enzymes, which exhibit antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities. With the increasing consumer demand for natural and functional foods, bee products have gained significant attention in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. However, the processing methods, stability, and bioavailability of these bioactive compounds represent critical challenges in maximizing their health benefits.

This Special Issue will highlight recent advances in the processing, characterization, and functional evaluation of bee products. We welcome original research and review articles focusing on innovative extraction and processing techniques, quality control, bioactive compound identification, and the assessment of their biological activities through in vitro and in vivo studies. Additionally, studies exploring the application of bee products in functional foods, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics are encouraged.

By bringing together cutting-edge research articles, this Special Issue will promote a deeper understanding of bee products and their potential to enhance human health and well-being.

Dr. Xiaoming Fang
Dr. Xiangxin Li
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-anonymized 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.

Keywords

  • bee products (honey, propolis, royal jelly, bee pollen, beeswax)
  • bioactive compounds
  • processing techniques
  • functional evaluation
  • antioxidant and antimicrobial activity
  • in vitro and in vivo studies
  • nutraceutical applications
  • cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses
  • quality and safety assessment

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 32172 KB  
Article
Honey Lemon Alleviates Alcoholic Liver Disease via Multi-Target Synergistic Mechanisms: An Integrated Study of Network Pharmacology, Molecular Docking, and Animal Experiments
by Yaxi Zhou, Dong Xu, Meichao Bu, Ke Li, Lingyu Gao, Fei Pan, Wenjun Peng, Hualei Chen and Wenli Tian
Foods 2026, 15(8), 1384; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15081384 - 16 Apr 2026
Viewed by 1388
Abstract
Honey lemon (H&L) is a traditional beverage known for its potential liver-protective effects, but its mechanisms against alcoholic liver disease (ALD) remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective properties of H&L and explore its multi-target mechanisms in alleviating ALD. Using [...] Read more.
Honey lemon (H&L) is a traditional beverage known for its potential liver-protective effects, but its mechanisms against alcoholic liver disease (ALD) remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective properties of H&L and explore its multi-target mechanisms in alleviating ALD. Using network pharmacology and molecular docking, we identified 26 bioactive compounds in H&L and 335 potential targets associated with ALD. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that H&L might exert its influence by regulating inflammation, oxidative stress and ethanol metabolism. Molecular docking further demonstrated strong binding interactions between key flavonoids (hesperidin, diosmin, and eriocitrin) and crucial targets, such as AKT1, SRC, STAT3, as well as ethanol-metabolizing enzymes like ADH, ALDH, and CYP2E1. In vivo experiments suggested that H&L alleviated liver injury and significantly improved selected indicators related to ethanol metabolism, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response. For several variables, including ALT/AST, ALDH, IL-6, and hepatic ethanol content, improvement trends were observed, although not all differences reached statistical significance. Overall, the results suggest that the protective effect of H&L against ALD may be associated with a multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway mode of action, supporting its potential for further investigation as a functional food candidate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Advances in Beehive Products)
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18 pages, 12913 KB  
Article
Elucidating the Material Basis and Receptor Mechanism of Bitterness in Castanopsis fissa Honey Using Machine Learning, Metabolomics, and Molecular Docking
by Yaxi Zhou, Dong Xu, Meichao Bu, Fei Pan, Hualei Chen, Wenjun Peng and Wenli Tian
Foods 2026, 15(8), 1379; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15081379 - 15 Apr 2026
Viewed by 607
Abstract
The distinctive bitter profile of Castanopsis fissa honey (LSZH) has not yet been clearly characterized at the chemical and molecular levels. Based on the LSZH samples (n = 6), this study investigated bitterness-associated compounds and their potential receptor interactions by integrating sensory [...] Read more.
The distinctive bitter profile of Castanopsis fissa honey (LSZH) has not yet been clearly characterized at the chemical and molecular levels. Based on the LSZH samples (n = 6), this study investigated bitterness-associated compounds and their potential receptor interactions by integrating sensory evaluation, machine learning, untargeted metabolomics, electronic tongue analysis, targeted UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS quantification, and molecular docking. A Random Forest model combined with untargeted metabolomics screened 71 candidate bitter compounds, among which alkaloid-related metabolites were prominently represented. Electronic tongue analysis showed that several compounds exhibited higher bitterness-related sensor responses than quinine under the tested conditions. Targeted UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS analysis identified and quantified five key compounds, among which kynurenic acid was the most abundant, reaching approximately 4500 ppm (mg/kg). Molecular docking suggested that these compounds could favorably interact with the human bitter taste receptor TAS2R46, with binding affinities ranging from −5.4 to −6.5 kcal/mol, mainly through hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and π-related interactions. Overall, this study provides chemical evidence and mechanistic clues for understanding the bitterness of LSZH and offers an integrated analytical framework for screening bitterness-associated compounds in complex food systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Advances in Beehive Products)
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Review

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25 pages, 13072 KB  
Review
The Intestinal Fate of Phenolic Substances in Honey: Metabolism by Gut Microbiota, Regulation of Bioavailability, and Its Prebiotic Effects on Host Health
by Qiao Yang, Wenna Yu, Tongyi Wang, Xiangxin Li and Renpeng Du
Foods 2026, 15(15), 2720; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15152720 - 2 Aug 2026
Viewed by 355
Abstract
This review systematically summarizes the metabolic transformation patterns, bioavailability regulation mechanisms, and multi-target host health effects of honey phenolic compounds under the action of gut microbiota, based on literature from 1996 to 2026. It focuses on elucidating the “high efficacy in vitro, low [...] Read more.
This review systematically summarizes the metabolic transformation patterns, bioavailability regulation mechanisms, and multi-target host health effects of honey phenolic compounds under the action of gut microbiota, based on literature from 1996 to 2026. It focuses on elucidating the “high efficacy in vitro, low exposure in vivo” paradox, the three-step cascade metabolic pathway (deglycosylation, C-ring cleavage, and reduction with secondary transformation), and the synergistic prebiotic effects of “oligosaccharides plus phenolics.” Current evidence indicates that the health benefits of honey are largely derived from microbiota-derived small-molecule metabolites rather than from the parent compounds, and these metabolites exert regulatory effects via the gut–liver, gut–brain, gut–immune, and gut–fat axes. However, the vast majority of evidence comes from in vitro fermentation, animal models, or ex vivo fecal cultures, with a severe shortage of high-quality human intervention studies, thereby limiting causal inference. Therefore, this review proposes a shift in honey quality evaluation from traditional qualitative chemical composition-based assessment toward precision functional evaluation based on metabolite profiles, and emphasizes the urgent need to establish standardized metabolite-based quality markers, develop enterotype-based stratified nutrition strategies, and conduct rigorous randomized controlled trials, so as to promote the transformation of honey from a traditional food into a targeted dietary intervention agent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Advances in Beehive Products)
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