Improvement of honey production and obtainment of new honey-derived products with added value through the use of fungi

Improvement of bee immunity and honey production thanks to the supplementation of food based on fungi.

This project investigates new food sources for bees that allow them to improve their immune system, promoting in parallel new honey-based products through the use of fungal extracts.

Specifically, the project develops the following products:

• Two solid foods for bees based on fungal extracts to boost their immune system, thus increasing their defences against diseases.
• Two honeys improved with these foods, enriched with compounds present in the fungi or the metabolites that are formed during the passage through the bees’ digestive tract and on which the viral load and antimicrobial activity will be evaluated to identify if the different treatments improve the humoral immunity of the bees.
• A syrup based on honey and fungal extracts intended for human consumption with immunomodulatory properties for commercialisation.

On the other hand, the bioactive compounds of the fungi that may appear and that may be indicators of healthy properties are characterised and quantified in the honey.

Eurecat participates in this project through two technological units:

• The Nutrition and Health unit is in charge of evaluating immunity, antimicrobial activity and viral load in bees, as well as developing the formula and validating the properties of the syrup.
• The Omic Sciences unit is responsible for the characterisation of fungal extracts and the bioactive compounds of fungi present in honeys.

The project is led by Torrons i Mel Alemany. Moreover, is participated by Claria Sat and coordinated by the Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia.