The effect of freeze-drying and the assessment of the storage stability of freeze-dried royal jelly (RJ)were investigated by the determination of furosine and blocked lysine. The level of furosine in the RJsamples collected from cells at different times (1, 2, and 3 days after grafting) showed that the Maillardreaction had already occurred in the hive as indicated by the increase in furosine: from 9.6 to 20.8mg/100 g of protein. Freeze-dried RJ was more prone to the early stage of the Maillard reaction thanfresh RJ, as confirmed by the significantly higher furosine values found after 12 months, both at 4
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C(253.4 versus 54.9 mg/100 g of protein) and at room temperature (884.3 versus 332.5 mg/100 g ofprotein). After 18 months at room temperature, the lyophilized samples reached a furosine level of1440.4 mg/100 g of protein, which corresponded to the blocked lysine levels, amounting to 24% oftotal lysine.Keywords: Royal jelly; freeze-drying; furosine; storage stability; protein