Abstract
One of the main practices followed by beekeepers during the production of royal jelly (RJ) is the artificial sugar feeding. In this study, the effect of carbohydrate supplementary feeding on the composition of the three main sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose) and on the final quantity of the product was explored using one-way ANOVA and non-parametric tests. Also, the correlations among the parameters were examined. The average yield per colony for non-supplemented colonies (Group A) was 12.8 g, while the average content of fructose, glucose and sucrose was 4.32%, 3.78%, and 0.04%, respectively. For the colonies fed at the grafting day one time (Group B), these values were 12.76 g, 3.11%, 3.19% and 3.71%, and for the colonies fed from the insertion until the collection day (Group C), 12.81 g, 3.05%, 3.12% and 3.54% respectively. It should also be noted that the sucrose content in all samples from supplemented colonies was found greater than 1.97%. The statistical tests highlighted the impact of artificial feeding on fructose and glucose contents, while the produced quantity remained uninfluenced. Finally, the Spearman (rho) coefficient test showed statistically significantly negative correlation between the monosaccharides (fructose, glucose) and sucrose.
Highlights
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a statistical procedure used in this research to determine whether there are significant differences between the three group means
According to the results of this study, the quantity of the produced royal jelly (RJ) does not increase due to artificial sugar feeding, instead, it remains stable
We found that the composition of the three main sugars in RJ changed significantly in the presence of artificial sugar feeding in the bee colony, during the production
Summary
It is secreted by young worker bees [3] [4] [5] to feed the queen throughout her life and the sexually immature females for only the first three days. It contains about 60% to 70% moisture [6] [7] [8], 9% to 18% crude protein, 10% tο 19% main sugars [9] [10] [11], 2.2% to 8.0% total lipids [7] [11], 0.8% to 3% ash [9] [12] and varieties of other nutrients including amino acids, minerals and vitamins [13]. Takenaka et al [15], Chen & Chen [16] and Kanelis [17] noted other factors as well, such as the storage conditions, which considerably alter the sugar composition of RJ
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