Identifying the components of Camellia oleifera honey and pollen and conducting corresponding toxicological tests are essential to revealing the mechanism of Camellia oleifera toxicity to honey bees. In this research, we investigated the saccharides and alkaloids in honey, nectar, and pollen from Camellia oleifera, which were compared with honey, nectar, and pollen from Brassica napus, a widely planted flowering plant. The result showed that melibiose, manninotriose, raffinose, stachyose, and lower amounts of santonin and caffeine were found in Camellia oleifera nectar, pollen, and honey but not in B. napus nectar, pollen, and honey. Toxicological experiments indicated that manninotriose, raffinose, and stachyose in Camellia oleifera honey are toxic to bees, while alkaloids in Camellia oleifera pollen are not toxic to honey bees. The toxicity mechanism of oligosaccharides revealed by temporal metabolic profiling is that oligosaccharides cannot be further digested by honey bees and thus get accumulated in honey bees, disturbing the synthesis and metabolism of trehalose, ultimately causing honey bee mortality.
C. oleifera is an economically important oilseed crop and medical plant. However, as a characteristic honey resource, the standard protocol used to identify the composition of C. oleifera honey has not been established yet. Previously, distinctive flavonoid has been shown as an effective marker to trace the botanical origin of honey. In this study, we examined the flavonoid types in C. oleifera honey and nine other monofloral honeys by using liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and compared the differences and identified eight distinct flavonoids in C. oleifera honey. Then, comparing the 8 flavonoids with the 14 flavonoids common to C. oleifera honey and nectar, two distinct flavonoids were identified in C. oleifera honey and nectar. Finally, we identified kaempferitrin as the distinct flavonoid marker in C. oleifera honey using the degree of influence of the partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model on C. oleifera honey and ployfloral honey.
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