Post grafting time significantly influences royal jelly yield and content of macro and trace elements

Abstract

Royal jelly (RJ) is commercially harvested after the 4 th day of queen larval age. In the current study, it was harvested after 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after grafting of 1-day larval age queens to investigate changes in macro and trace elements associated with harvesting time. The RJ yields were significantly affected by harvest time, and the highest yield was obtained 72 hours after grafting. The highest phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) contents were obtained from RJ harvested 24 hours after grafting. Royal jelly harvested 48 hours after grafting had the highest concentrations of magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), sodium (Na), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn). Likewise, RJ harvested 96 hours after grafting had higher concentrations of copper (Cu). Royal jelly harvested 72 hours after grafting showed the second rank for P, Mg, Ca, K, Na, Fe, Cu, and Mn concentrations. In descending order, P, Mg, Ca, and K were the most dominant elements in RJ harvested at different times after grafting. The Mg, Ca, K, Na, Cu, and Mn concentrations in RJ were all positively correlated, and P, Fe, and Zn were positively correlated. The P and Zn were negatively correlated with Ca, Cu, and Mn. It was concluded that macro and trace element contents in RJ can differ depending on the harvest time after grafting. We recommend harvesting RJ at 72 hours after grafting for possible use as healthy nutritional human food supplement.

Improving the larvae acceptance rate and morphometric characteristics of queen Apis cerana javana by grafting larvae at different ages

“…The morphometric characteristics of the queen bee was affected by the feeding supplementation (Njeru et al 2011;Mahbobi et al 2012), and the diameter of queen cells, which was related to the capacity of royal jelly, can be stored for queen bee cells (Wu et al 2018). In addition, it was affected by macro and micro minerals (Alkahtani and Taha 2020) and the concentration of amino acids present in royal jelly (Rangel et al 2016). The emergence weight of the young queen bee in our study was different with reported by Okuyan and Akhyol (2018) that the weight of the emerged queen bee of Apis mellifera from 1 day old ranged from 173.59 to 206.13 mg/queen.…”

Dietary Structure and Nutritional Status of Chinese Beekeepers: Demographic Health Survey

“…Whether it is related to the long-term consumption of royal jelly needs further study and verification. Al-Kahtani and Taha [ 23 ] found that, due to different harvesting times, royal jellies harvested 24 hours after the hatching of larvae had the highest contents of phosphorus and zinc; 48 hours later, the contents of calcium, potassium, and sodium were the highest; 96 hours later, the content of copper was higher. Combined with the findings of this study, we suggest that the levels of different mineral nutrients in the body can be improved by consuming royal jelly at different harvest times.…”

Fruitful female fecundity after feedingGryllodes sigillatusroyal jelly

“…Royal jelly is composed of water (60-70%), proteins (8-18%), carbohydrates (7-18%), fatty acids and lipids (3-8%), and small amounts of vitamins and minerals (Kunugi and Ali 2019;Wytrychowski et al 2013). Royal jelly's variation in nutrient content depends in part on which honey bee species produced it and their geographical location, the timing of harvest, botanical source, storage conditions, pesticide exposure, and production methods (Al-Kahtani et al 2020;Chaves et al 2020;Kunugi and Ali 2019;Ma et al 2021;Milone et al 2021;Mokaya et al 2020;Qi et al 2020;Sano et al 2004;Wytrychowski et al 2013;Zheng et al 2011). More than 80% of the protein in royal jelly is in the form of nine major royal jelly proteins (MRJP) (Albert and Klaudiny 2004;Klaudiny et al 1994;Kunugi and Ali 2019;Xin et al 2016).…”