in Environment
In news- For the first time, Indian Royal Jelly has been found to surpass top-quality sellers, including those produced in Thailand and Taiwan.
About Royal jelly-
It is a pearly white or pale yellow-coloured cohesive mixture of honey and secretions from the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of worker honeybees.
It contains moisture or water (60-70 per cent), lipids (1-10 per cent), minerals (0.8-3 per cent), proteins (9-18 per cent), sugar (7 per cent) and other elements.
Being highly nutritious, this substance is used as food to young larvae and adult queen honeybees.
Commercially, it is produced artificially by stimulating bee colonies to produce queen bees, grown outside its natural habitat.
The perfect time to harvest royal jelly is when the maximum amount gets accumulated upon the larva turning 5 days old.
It needs to be stored in sub-zero temperatures immediately after production, during packaging and also at the consumer's end.
Freeze drier, a special machine, is needed to remove moisture from the fresh produce.
Indian royal jelly is better in quality than royal jelly produced in Thailand and China and is almost the same quality as the Italian royal jelly, which is considered the best in the world.
Presently, country-specific standards of royal jelly standards are available only in Switzerland, Bulgaria, Brazil and Uruguay whereas other countries are in the process of devising the same with the help of International Honey Commission.
With the standards now analysed, the Indian Royal Jelly now meets the ISO requirements.
China tops the production charts and is followed by Taiwan, Thailand and Italy.
Japan is the world's largest importer followed by Germany, America and some other European nations.
Royal jelly is no medicine but a nutritious substance.
It is known for being a good antioxidant, and as it cures damaged cells in the body and rejuvenates them, some cancer patients are advised consumption of royal jelly up to 10mgs.
Its consumption is suggested to women for improving their fertility.
It is believed to have anti- ageing properties.
Currently, Indian Royal Jelly is not sold commercially and those available under Indian brand names are, in reality, imported and re-packaged in India.
Source: Indian Express
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