A wide variety of health and cosmetic properties have been attributed to royal jelly over the years. Nevertheless, no well designed controlled medical studies have demonstrated therapeutic effects for royal jelly. The most promising antibacterial and textural potential for royal jelly are as a topical cream with both cosmetic and antimicrobial action.
Royal jelly also has potential as a dietary ingredient in both human foods and for animals. Royal jelly is usually produced in colonies maintained for that purpose. The queen is removed and a frame containing artificial queen cells, each with a 12-36 hour old worker larva is inserted. Three days later the frame is removed, the larvae discarded and the royal jelly collected either with a wooden spoon or a soft suction tube. A good queen cup will yield about 200-300 mg of royal jelly.
Once collected the royal jelly can be stored in a tight container in the refrigerator for several months, frozen or freeze dried until used. The main markets in the U.S. and Europe for royal jelly are the cosmetic industry which uses royal jelly in moisturizing and skin cream as well as a variety of other products, and the health food market. The antibacterial, cleansing and textural properties of royal jelly likely account for its popularity in cosmetics.
In the health food market royal jelly is often added as a supplement to other ingredients and vitamins which can be taken either as capsules, as parts of beverages, in confectionaries or mixed with honey as a spread. The largest producers of royal jelly are China, Japan and Korea. Annual production levels in China have been 220-360 metric tonnes. However, it can expected that the production levels in China have increased as a result of a huge increase in the production of honey and other products of the hive. Japan is both a large producer and importer of royal jelly. (mainebee)
