Does the Presence and Absence of Queen Bee in the Production of Royal Jelly Affect the Amount of Soluble Protein and Ratio of 10-Hydroxy-2-Decenoic Acid?

Abstract

Royal jelly (RJ), is one of the important honey bee products and a functional food item in the regulation of diets and in the cosmetic industry. RJ has a potential towards various human disease treatments. The chemical content of RJ is influenced by some factors. In this study, the effect of the presence or absence of the queen on the amount of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) and soluble protein in RJ is determined. For this reason, colonies were prepared as queenless, queenright and starter-finisher. RJ yields in colonies queenless, queenright and starter-finisher were determined as 15.2 ± 0.89 g, 12.0 ± 0.90 g and 9.6 ± 0.72 g, respectively. Group queenless was different from the other two groups. While 10-HDA values of the groups were similar (queenless, queenright and starter-finisher, respectively; 2.0 ± 0.06%, 2.1 ± 0.06% and 2.0 ± 0.05%), the soluble protein amounts of the groups (queenless, queenright and starter-finisher, respectively, 9.65 ± 0.179%, 7.68 ± 0.184%, 7.50 ± 0.203%) were found different and significant from each other. As a result, the RJ production colony queenless or queenright affected the amount of soluble protein. The worker bees of queenless colonies secreted RJ containing more soluble protein.

Keywords

• honey bee
• starter-finisher colony
• queenless colony
• royal jelly yield
• soluble protein