Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2022 Jun 20;377(1853):20210163. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0163. Epub 2022 May 2.
Nectar, the main floral reward for pollinators, varies greatly in composition and concentration. The assumption that nectar quality is equivalent to its sugar (energy) concentration is too simple. Diverse non-sugar components, especially amino acids and secondary metabolites, play various roles in nutrition and health of pollinators. Many nectar compounds have indirect effects by altering the foraging behaviour of pollinators or protecting them from disease. This review also emphasizes the water component of nectar, often ignored because of evaporative losses and difficulties in sampling small nectar volumes. Nectar properties vary with environmental factors, pollinator visits and microbial contamination. Pollination mutualisms depend on the ability of insect and vertebrate pollinators to cope with and benefit from the variation and diversity in nectar chemistry. This article is part of the theme issue 'Natural processes influencing pollinator health: from chemistry to landscapes'.
花蜜是传粉者的主要花卉报酬，其组成和浓度差异很大。花蜜质量等同于其糖（能量）浓度的假设过于简单。各种非糖成分，特别是氨基酸和次生代谢物，在传粉者的营养和健康中发挥着各种作用。许多花蜜化合物通过改变传粉者的觅食行为或保护它们免受疾病的影响而具有间接作用。本文还强调了花蜜的水成分，由于蒸发损失和小体积花蜜采样的困难，往往被忽视。花蜜特性随环境因素、传粉者访问和微生物污染而变化。传粉共生取决于昆虫和脊椎动物传粉者应对和受益于花蜜化学变化和多样性的能力。本文是“影响传粉者健康的自然过程：从化学到景观”主题特刊的一部分。
