Investigation of Yield and Some Quality Features of Royal Jelly Harvested from Honey Bee Colonies Fed with Food Substitutes

Abstract

Objective: In several nations, royal jelly is employed in apitherapy, healthful foods, and cosmetics. Scientists and beekeepers are attempting to improve the production and quality of royal jelly extracted from honeybee hives. This research studied the impact of honey and pollen substitute feeding on royal jelly production efficiency. In addition, analyses were conducted to determine the differences between fed and unfed groups in terms of 10-hydroxy-2-deconoic acid (10-HDA), protein and pH characteristics, pollen, and honey substitute. Material and Methods: In this research, the influence of honey and pollen substitute feeding on royal jelly production was examined using the ANOVA test for multiple comparisons by forming 3 different groups and conducting 2 replications. Also, features of the 10- hydroxy-2-deconoic acid (10-HDA), protein and pH of the royal jelly was analyzed for understanding differences among the non-feeding pollen and honey substitution feeding groups. Results: The average RJ yield per queen cup for non-feeding colonies (Group A) was 420 mg, while the content of 10-HAD, protein and pH were 2.40%, 14.06% and 4.20%, respectively. For the colonies fed with sugar syrup (Group B), these values were 470 mg, 2.51%, 12.88%, 4.25 and for the colonies fed with sugar syrup+pollen substitute (Group C) 530 mg, 4.05%, 13.13% and 4.18. The statistical test and contents analysis highlighted the impact of substitution feeding on average yield amounts and 10-HDA. According to the results of the research, average RJ amounts in queen cell cup was significantly different in three honey bee colonies feeding groups (p