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A Review of the Artificial Diets Used as Pot-Pollen Substitutes

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Pot-Pollen in Stingless Bee Melittology

Abstract

Different microorganisms are present in pot-pollen and participate in bee bread preparation. During fermentation, vitamins, antimicrobial compounds, and enzymes can be secreted. Spoilage of bee bread is avoided by the low pH of pot-pollen, caused by lactic and acetic acid fermentation and alcoholic fermentation, and by the presence of natural products with antibiotic properties produced by resident microbiota of stored bee pollen. Interactions among microorganisms living in pot-pollen can control and optimize the microbiota, after resistant microorganisms survive in the adverse conditions created by fermentation. Evidence suggests that the symbiotic relationship between bees and pot-pollen microorganisms is stable and that an inoculum can be added by bees to ferment freshly collected and deposited pollen. The quality of pollen selected to prepare bee artificial diets and the addition of fermented pollen as an inoculum to ferment the material augment food in periods of scarcity. Additionally, propagation of plants with different blooming periods, and flowers with abundant pollen, may aid meliponiculture.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA (grant U19TW009872); the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazil (grants 2013/50954-0, 2013/04092-7, 2013/07600-3, 2012/22487-6, 2012/51112-0, and 2014/23532-0); and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil (grants 400435/2014-4 and 479710/2011-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Belém, PA, Brazil

    Cristiano Menezes

  2. Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

    Camila Raquel Paludo & Mônica Tallarico Pupo

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  1. Cristiano Menezes
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  2. Camila Raquel Paludo
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  3. Mônica Tallarico Pupo
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Correspondence to Cristiano Menezes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Food Science Department, Faculty of Pharmacy and Bioanalysis, Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela

    Patricia Vit

  2. Biology Department, School of Philosophy, Sciences and Literature, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil

    Silvia R.M. Pedro

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama

    David W. Roubik

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Menezes, C., Paludo, C.R., Pupo, M.T. (2018). A Review of the Artificial Diets Used as Pot-Pollen Substitutes. In: Vit, P., Pedro, S., Roubik, D. (eds) Pot-Pollen in Stingless Bee Melittology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61839-5_18

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