Bee Products: A Representation of Biodiversity, Sustainability, and Health

Alessandra Durazzo,Rita Aromolo,Luigi Lucini,Giuseppe Pignatti,Massimo Lucarini,Antonello Santini,Eliana B Souto,Manuela Plutino,Erika Martinelli

doi:10.3390/life11090970

Abstract

Biodiversity strengthens the productivity of any ecosystem (agricultural land, forest, lake, etc.). The loss of biodiversity contributes to food and energy insecurity; increases vulnerability to natural disasters, such as floods or tropical storms; and decreases the quality of both life and health. Wild and managed bees play a key role in maintaining the biodiversity and in the recovery and restoration of degraded habitats. The novelty character of this perspective is to give an updated representation of bee products’ biodiversity, sustainability, and health relationship. The role of bees as bioindicators, their importance in the conservation of biodiversity, their ecosystem services, and the variety of the bee products are described herein. An overview of the main components of bee products, their biological potentials, and health is highlighted and detailed as follows: (i) nutritional value of bee products, (ii) bioactive profile of bee products and the related beneficial properties; (iii) focus on honey and health through a literature quantitative analysis, and (iv) bee products explored through databases. Moreover, as an example of the interconnection between health, biodiversity, and sustainability, a case study, namely the “Cellulose Park”, realized in Rome (Italy), is presented here. This case study highlights how bee activities can be used to assess and track changes in the quality of agricultural ecosystems—hive products could be valid indicators of the quality and health of the surrounding environment, as well as the changes induced by the biotic and abiotic factors that impact the sustainability of agricultural production and biodiversity conservation in peri-urban areas.

Highlights

The change in “Cellulose Park” honey was evidenced by the colour difference of the samples, which turned from a pale colour in the spring sample of 2019 (BLO-19SP) to dark ones in the subsequent samples of honeydew honey, beginning from the 2019 summer sample (HDW-19SU) to the other samples collected in the years 2020 and 2021
A multidisciplinary approach based on the interconnection of food, health, and biodiversity allowed for better defining and obtaining a product of a high quality that reflects the biodiversity of the territory
This may be the basis for further detailed research on the relationship between plant and animal biodiversity and human health

Summary

Introduction

Assessments of the environmental protection such as soil quality and landscaping, ecological resources, animal wellness, and appropriate farming-based land-use, have led to an improvement of the product quality [1,2]. This perspective aims at giving an updated look into bee products, biodiversity, sustainability, and health relationships. The role of bees as bioindicators in the conservation of biodiversity, recovery, and the restoration of degraded habitats and supply ecosystem services is known In this respect, a delineation of the variety of bee products in a range of floral resources and diversity of territories is commented. The importance of research in this area has been documented by a comprehensive literature search analysis outlining the interconnection between health, biodiversity, and sustainability

Methods

Results

Conclusion