Botanical Origin and Nutritional Values of Bee Bread of Stingless Bee (Heterotrigona itama) from Malaysia

Abstract

Bee bread is the bee-collected pollen with the mixture of honey and bee salivary enzymes, stored inside the bee hive. Malaysia has limited information on bee bread collected by the stingless bee Heterotrigona itama. Therefore, this study aims to determine the botanical origin and nutritional values of bee bread from H. itama. Melissopalynological analysis was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the bee bread’s botanical origin. The proximate analysis, water activity, sugar profile, amino acid profile, vitamin C content, mineral content, and heavy metal content of the bee bread were analyzed. From the results obtained, Bidens pilosa was found in bee bread from all sampling locations. Bee bread contained high protein (21.70–23.33%) and carbohydrate (57.06–58.89%) contents. Glucose was the predominant sugar found (average 11.499 g/100 g). Eight essential amino acids were quantified, and arginine was detected the highest. The major mineral element in the bee bread was potassium (average 6705.9 mg/kg), followed by phosphorus and magnesium. Toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic were detected but within the safe limits permitted in food. The data obtained contribute towards expanding the knowledge on the nutritional information specifically for H. itama bee bread in Malaysia.

Melissopalynological analysis of honey produced by two species of stingless bees in Lombok Island, Indonesia

“…The behavior H. itama which prefers to forage on flowers in a short distance from their hives has been reported by Basari et al (2018) and Thakodee et al (2018). In addition, H. itama prefers to forage pollen from small flowers of white or yellow colors (Mohammad et al 2020), and obviously, A. pinnata flowers have these two characteristics. The diversity of pollen sources in this area was high, consisted of 19 plant families.…”

“…This fact was possibly due to the nature of Fabaceae as entomophilous plants with flower size larger than Arecaceae so they provide more food and attract honey bees to visit. Previous studies revealed that stingless bees collect considerable amount of Fabaceae pollen (do Nascimento et al 2015;Vijayakumar and Jeyaraaj 2016;Mohammad et al 2020). The high diversity of plant families visited by T. laeviceps from this village might indicate that this species has no specific preferences in certain types of flowers in finding food sources.…”

Stingless Bee-Collected Pollen (Bee Bread): Chemical and Microbiology Properties and Health Benefits

“…Stingless bee can have an average flight range within a radius of 712 m [ 17 ] varying with bee species, bee′s body size, and food availability [ 18 ], [ 19 ]. Stingless bee such as Heterotrigona itama prefers foraging plants closest to their hive especially from white- and cream-coloured flowers [ 20 , 21 , 22 ] with nectar containing high sugar concentration [ 19 ].…”

“…During foraging, forager bees collect nectar and store it in their honey stomach while their bodies are covered in pollen dust. Pollen profile collected by different stingless bees species has been documented in Southeast Asia [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] and South America [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Stingless bees collect pollen from underutilised fruits, tree, and ornamental plants, shrubs, epiphytes, herbs, and lianas [ 21 , 31 ].…”

“…Stingless bees collect pollen from underutilised fruits, tree, and ornamental plants, shrubs, epiphytes, herbs, and lianas [ 21 , 31 ]. They have smaller body size compared to honeybees, which provides an advantage in collecting pollen from small flowers such as Mimosa pudica [ 22 , 26 ] and Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia [ 33 ].…”