Abstract Honey is a natural animal product. The elemental composition of honey varies greatly depending on the source of nectar, honeydew, pollen and environmental conditions. The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and aluminium (Al) in a total of 65 honey samples procured from different regions of Turkey. Element levels were measured by using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometer (ICP-OES). Minimum and maximum levels of the elements, indicated as µg/g wet weight were as follows: Cr: 0.126-7.964, Cu: 0.223-198.361, Fe: 3.506-1278.778, Mg: 5.830-309.783, Mn: 0.096-29.496, Se: 0.418-19.879, Zn: 1.734-245.205, Cd: 0.000-0.297, Pb: 0.000-3.035, Al: 0.775-155.585.

Abstract In this study, mineral element and heavy metal levels in bee pollen produced in various regions of Turkey (20 samples) and imported bee pollen (4 samples), were determined using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) device. Mineral and heavy metal levels of bee pollens produced in Turkey were determined to be within the following ranges (minimum-maximum, µg/gpollen); Cr (chromium): 0.124-1.595, Cu (copper): 3.728-14.994, Fe (iron): 28.603-725.360, Mg (magnesium): 271.107-1278.340, Mn (manganese): 8.151-201.036, Se (selenium): 0.593-5.085, Zn (zinc): 14.832-39.079, B (boron): 0.592-61.33, Ni (nickel): 0.002-1.761, Si (silicon): 0.082-10.500, K (potassium): 992.107-2894.154, Ca (calcium): 491.853-1472.102, P (phosphorus): 795.899-5246.992 and Cd (cadmium): 0.006-0.181, Pb (lead): 0.000-0.479, As (arsenic): 0.006-1.035. As a result of this study, it can be concluded that bee pollens produced in Turkey may be a good source of mineral regarding the trace elements Se, Mn, Fe, Cr and Cu.