Pollen grains

Abstract

Pollen grains have very rich pharmaceutical, ethnomedicinal and/or nutritional properties. Pollen and its matrices like honey, bee bread, and bee wax are used for the treatment of wound, drug development, drug delivery, as food supplement and in the cosmetics industry. Pollen grains have anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, anti-cancer and antitumor properties. Although, the botanical and geographical provenance of pollen grains create room for variations in the quantity and quality of its biochemical content, physical structure, and function. These diversities render them as important bio-entities with enormous benefits. The medicinal and nutritional properties of the pollen of Zea mays, Cocos nucifera, Castanea sativa, Phoenix spp., Anacardium occidentale, Corylus avellana, Micromeria fruticosa, Achillea fragrantissima, and Fraxinus excelsior among others were briefly reviewed in this chapter.