Nutritional Composition of Pot-Pollen from Four Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Pot-pollen from four species of indigenous Thai stingless bees (Lepidotrigona flavibasis, Lepidotrigona terminata, Tetragonula laeviceps species complex, and Tetragonula testaceitarsis) was examined for nutritional composition including macronutrients, mineral content, fatty acids, and amino acids. The results for macronutrients are similar to previous pollen analyses done on pollen stored by the western honey bee Apis mellifera, a species which has dominated research in nutritional studies of pollen. A caveat is that total protein of pot-pollen is somewhat lower than that reported for A. mellifera. Our results for mineral content exhibit interspecific similarities and are within the parameters of known pollen mineral content. For fatty acid and amino acid analyses, we utilized only the stingless bee species T. laeviceps species complex. Total unsaturated fatty acids were more prevalent (3.66 ± 0.18 g/100 g) than total saturated (2.30 ± 0.59 g/100 g). Twenty amino acids were identified, of which 9 are essential and 11 classified as nonessential. Lysine was the most prevalent individual amino acid. The botanical sources were heterofloral and dominated by four pollen types of the genera Cocos, Acacia, Trema, and Tapirira.