Fatty acids in honeybee-collected pollens from six endemic Western Australian eucalypts and the possible significance to the Western Australian beekeeping industry

Abstract

Western Australian eucalypt pollens in this research have low levels of lipid (0.59–1.9%) when compared with many other plant species that have evolved alongside the European honeybee. Eucalypt-pollen lipid was dominant in linoleic acid (35.7–48%). The six other major fatty acids that were present in the lipid were myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linolenic and arachidic acids.

Linoleic acid was dominant in eucalypt pollen at average concentrations of 2.77–5.81 mg/g pollen. These results could be of significance to the Australian beekeeping industry in refining disease-management strategies in the light that other researchers have found that 2 economically damaging bee diseases (EFB and AFB) are inhibited by certain concentrations of the acid. Redgum- or marri (Corymbia calophylla)-pollen lipid was also dominated by 2 other known antibacterial fatty acids: myristic (0.25 mg/g pollen) and linolenic (1.06 mg/g pollen), when compared with the other eucalypts studied.