This study aimed to evaluate the development, research trends, collaboration networks, and conceptual structure of the scientific literature on the safety of apitherapeutic products using bibliometric and visual mapping methods. A total of 480 publications, published between 1979 and 2025 and meeting the eligibility criteria, were identified in the Web of Science Core Collection and included in the analysis. Brazil, Türkiye, and Egypt were the leading countries in publication productivity, whereas Germany, Italy, and Saudi Arabia occupied central positions in the international collaboration network. Contact Dermatitis, Food and Chemical Toxicology, and Dermatitis were the most productive journals. Keyword analysis identified “propolis” as the most frequently used term, followed by prominent themes including “oxidative stress”, “chemical-composition”, “antioxidant”, and “toxicity”. Thematic evolution analysis indicated a transition from research focusing primarily on biochemical mechanisms and organ-level effects toward toxicity, anaphylaxis, and more specific clinical and allergic reactions. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the safety literature on apitherapeutic products is multidisciplinary, encompassing toxicological, biochemical, dermatological, and clinical dimensions. By collectively evaluating various apitherapeutic products from a safety-oriented perspective, this study provides a comprehensive overview of current research trends and highlights areas requiring further investigation.
Bees are essential for ecosystem stability and global food security, yet their populations are declining worldwide, largely due to agrochemical exposure. Traditional pesticide risk assessments have focused on acute mortality, whereas recent ecotoxicological research increasingly emphasizes sublethal behavioral and cognitive effects. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of global research on the impacts of pesticides on bee behavior and cognition, based on 1,418 publications indexed in the Web of Science (2000–2025). Data were analyzed with the Bibliometrix R package and VOSviewer to identify publication trends, collaboration networks, and thematic evolution. Results showed a marked increase in research output after 2015, with peak productivity in 2023. The field is led by international collaborations centered in the United States, China, and Western Europe, with *Apidologie* serving as a key publication outlet. Thematic analyses revealed three major shifts: from mortality-based assessments to behavioral and cognitive endpoints such as learning, memory, and navigation; from traditional pesticides to newer compounds including flupyradifurone, sulfoxaflor, and thiacloprid; and from single-stressor approaches to multi-stressor frameworks integrating pesticide exposure with climate change, nutritional stress, and gut microbiota disruption. These findings highlight the need for regulatory frameworks that incorporate standardized behavioral, cognitive, and multi-stressor assessments to protect pollinator biodiversity and ecosystem services.
This study evaluated the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and total phenolic profiles of nine chestnut honey samples from Yalova, Türkiye, and the bioaccessibility of these compounds using a simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. Agar well diffusion and broth microdilution methods were used to evaluate antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Enteritidis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Typhi, Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Candida albicans. Honey samples (100% and 50% v/v) were effective against all microorganisms except C. albicans. The most sensitive strains were S. aureus and S. epidermidis while E. coli and E. faecalis were less susceptible, respectively. The total phenolic content of honey samples was between 59.9 and 77.5 mg GAE/100 g honey. The DPPH radical scavenging activity ranged from 8.46 to 13.27 μmol TE/g, while the ABTS radical scavenging activity was determined to be between 15.40 and 30.47 μmol TE/g. The CUPRAC reduced capacity ranged from 17.68 to 26.79 μmol TE/g. The antioxidant capacity of honey samples underwent significant fluctuations during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (p < 0.05). While certain parameters declined during the gastric phase, samples H4 and H6 demonstrated remarkable resilience, achieving the highest post-digestive recovery with superior TPC stability and antioxidant retention.
Bee venom is an important bee product used directly in apitherapy applications. Once harvested, bee venom crystallizes rapidly upon contact with air. Furthermore, bee venom that is not produced and stored under optimal conditions deteriorates rapidly. For this reason, there is a need for new methods that can extend the shelf life of bee venom. Encapsulation techniques are widely used to extend the shelf life of bioactive components by immobilizing them within a biocompatible biopolymer. In this study, the potential of encapsulating bee venom using ionic gelation with chitosan, a biocompatible polymer, was investigated. It was found that chitosan had a 91% encapsulation efficiency for bee venom. It has been determined that bee venom inhibits the acetylcholinesterase enzyme by 84%±2.1, whilst its total protein content is 64.2%±1.8. The antimicrobial activity of the encapsulated bee venom was evaluated against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacillus subtilis. The inhibition zones ranged from 11 to 12 mm. The results showed that the encapsulated bee venom retained its biological activity without significant loss.
Türkiye ranks third in the world in natural honey production, after China and India, but it lags significantly behind in exports. Therefore, increasing Türkiye's natural honey exports is of great importance. To achieve this, honey exporters in Türkiye need to operate in multiple markets and prioritize these markets. In this regard, the aim of this study is to identify, classify, and evaluate priority markets for Türkiye's natural honey exports. For this purpose, the LODECI method was used as the objective criterion weighting method, and the CoCoSo method was used to rank countries as priority markets. The current study analysed 18 markets and 7 criteria to determine priority markets, which were then classified into three groups. As a result of the study, when determining Türkiye's priority market for honey exports using the LODECI method, the two criteria with the highest weights were the annual increase in import unit value between 2020 and 2024 and the annual increase in import volume between 2020 and 2024. In the analysis that determined priority markets using the CoCoSo method, taking criterion weightings into account, seven countries were identified as high-priority markets for Türkiye's natural honey exports. The priority markets included the United States of America, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
