Effects of pollen patties with curcumin-steviol glycoside complex on Apis mellifera
Received: Nov 22, 2023; Revised: Jan 11, 2024; Accepted: Jan 29, 2024
Published Online: Feb 01, 2024
Abstract
The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of pollen patty with supplementation of different concentrations of curcumin-steviol glycoside complex (CSG) in <italic>Apis mellifera </italic>(<italic>A. mellifera</italic>). Twelve colonies of <italic>A. mellifera</italic> were conducted from July 10th to August 21st for 42 days. <italic>A. mellifera</italic> were assigned to four dietary treatments with 3 replicates of equal size as follows: (NC, no supplementation of pollen patty; PC, supplementation of basal pollen patty; T1, supplementation of basal pollen diets + 0.04% of CSG; T2, supplementation of basal pollen diets + 0.08% of CSG). The percentage of CSG was calculated based on the total weight of pollen patties. Thorax weight was significantly increased (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) in the T2 diet compared with the NC and PC diet. There was no significant difference (<italic>p</italic> > 0.05) in pollen patties consumption among the PC, T1, and T2 diets. The T1 and T2 diets showed significantly higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) honey production than the PC and NC diets. Also, the PC diet showed significantly higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) honey production than the NC diet. The T2 showed significantly higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) brood area than the PC and NC diets at 28 and 42 days. In addition, the PC and T1 diets showed significantly higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) brood areas than the NC diet. The T1 and T2 diets showed significantly higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) 1 gene expression than the PC and NC diets. The expression of the thioredoxin reductase (Trxr) 1 gene was significantly higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) in the T1 diet, and decreased in the order of the PC, T2, and NC diets. The expression of the SOD2 gene was significantly higher (<italic>p </italic>< 0.05) in the T1 diet than the PC and T2 diets and was significantly lower (<italic>p </italic>< 0.05) in the NC diet. Therefore, supplementation of CSG to pollen patty might be the ideal strategy to improve <italic>A. mellifera </italic>performances.