Amino Acid Content of Dandelion Pollen, a Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Nutritional Evaluation

Abstract

Amino acid content of honey bee-collected (Apis mellifera L.) and hand-collected dandelion, Taraxacum officinale Weber ex Wigg., pollen was determined by ion exchange chromatography of acid-hydrolyzed samples. Hand-collected pollen (one source) was unexpectedly higher in proline and valine than bee-collected pollen (five sources). Generally, dandelion pollen was low relative to honey bee requirements in valine and isoleucine and low in leucine and arginine. The reported poor brood-rearing capability of dandelion pollen appears to be the result of multiamino acid deficiency.

Apis mellifera, dandelion, brood-rearing, proline, valine, leucine