| Title:  Royal Jelly Additional Names:  Queen bee jelly;  apilak;  Weiselfuttersaft (German);  Gelée royale (French) Literature References:  Secretion from the salivary glands of the worker honey bee which is essential for the development of queen bees.  See also Queen Substance.  Production from bee hives:  Ritschel, Oesterr. Drogisten-Ztg. 12, 4-7 (1958).  Synthetic mixture fed to bee larvae maintains life, but does not produce queens.  The presence of hormones affecting mammals has not been demonstrated:  Hinglais, Gautherie, Compt. Rend. 242, 2483 (1956).  No practical utility in human nutrition because of the very large amounts required for any definite effect:  Moreaux, Bull. Soc. Sci. Nancy 14, 49-53 (1955), C.A. 50, 13214f (1956).  Review of composition and biological activity:  A. D. Dayan, J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 12, 377-383 (1960).  Monographs:  B. deBelvefer, Royal Jelly (Paris, Librairie Maloine, 1958) 270 pp; H. Rembold, Biologically Active Substances in Royal Jelly in Vitam. Horm. 23, 359-382 (1965). Properties:  Milky white, highly viscous secretion.  Analysis of fresh specimen (% wt at pH 5):  moisture 65-70, protein 15-20, carbohydrate 10-15, lipid 1.7-6, ash 0.7-2.0; elemental analysis:  P up to 0.5, S up to 0.6; trace elements present:  Na, K, Fe, Cu, Mg, Mn, Ca.  Vitamins (mg/g):  thiamine 2, riboflavine 10, pyridoxine 2, nicotinic acid 75, biotin 2, folic acid 0.3, inositol 100, pantothenic acid 250, ascorbic acid 3-5, vitamin D trace, vitamin E trace.  When stored at room temp, changes to a lightly yellow gum, and after some weeks, to a brittle amber solid.   Derivative Type:  Royal jelly acid  Additional Names:  trans-10-Hydroxy-D2-decenoic acid Molecular Formula:  C10H18O3 Molecular Weight:  186.25 Percent Composition:  C 64.49%, H 9.74%, O 25.77% Literature References:  Constitutes ~10% of the dried royal jelly.  Isoln:  Townsend, Lucas, Biochem. J. 34, 1155 (1940); Butenandt, Rembold, Z. Physiol. Chem. 308, 284 (1957).  Synthesis:  Fray et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 4, 15 (1960); Smissman et al., J. Org. Chem. 29, 3517 (1964); Bestmann et al., Ann. 699, 33 (1966); J. Tsuji et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 50, 2507 (1977); T. Fujisawa et al., Chem. Lett. 1982, 219; R. Chiron, J. Chem. Ecol. 8, 709 (1982).  Leukemia prevention in mice:  Townsend et al., Nature 183, 1270 (1959). Properties:  Prisms from ether + petr ether or methanol + water, mp 64-65°.  uv max:  211 nm (e 12000). Melting point:  mp 64-65° Absorption maximum:  uv max:  211 nm (e 12000)   |