Diversity of honey producing plants of Southern Nigeria: basic prerequisite for conservation and sustainability

Nnamani C. V., . and Uguru A. N., . Diversity of honey producing plants of Southern Nigeria: basic prerequisite for conservation and sustainability. pp. 103-112. ISSN 1823-8556

Honey is a natural product that acts directly on our biological systems in a significant number of ways. Amongst the health benefits of honey are it's antioxidant antifungal anticancer and bacteriostatic properties to its free fat and cholesterol values. Today the density and availability of these plant species which honey bees forage for nectar are threatened by the vicious impact of climate change environmental degradation and over exploitation by man for his livelihood options. Systematic identification and documentation of these species is the basic prerequisite for their conservation and sustainability. The major aim of this work was to evaluate palynologically after acetolysis the pollen spectrum of five honey samples from three zones in Southern Nigeria. The results showed diversity of fifty-sixty (56) honey plants belonging to twenty one (21) plant families distributed within 53 genera comprising of 19 dicots and 2 months. Three predominants families were frequently encountered these Fabaceae Euphorbiaceae and Anacardiaceae contributing a total of 1672.74 plants pollen with 983.45(58.79) 372.9 (22.29) and 316.3(18.9) respectively. Fabaceae contributed the highest honey plant of (9) species Senna hirsuta L Danialla oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch Dalz. Brachystegia eurycoma Harms. Senna occidentale L. Link Isoberlinia dokas Craib Stapf Erythrina senegalensis D.C. Albizia zygia (DC.) Macbr Tephrosia brateolate Guill. Perr Tephrosia purpurea L. Parkia biglobosa (Jacq) R.ex Don-H.C. Entada abyssinica Steud. Ex A. Rich. Crotolaria retusa L. and Dialium guineense willd. Predominant honey plants were Anacardium occidentale L Ageratum conyzoides L D. oliveri Alchornea cordifolia Muell Arg Trichilia spp and Elaeis guineensis Jacq. With 31.14 32.48 39.9 58.74 35.26 and 60.92 respectively. The result equally reflected the habit and conservation status of these predominant honey plants. A part from A. occidentalis and E. guineensis which are cultivated others are found in the wild and are vulnerable to climate variability and change (threatened). Poor pollen spectrum recorded in some samples could be a reflection of loss of bioresources attributed to high level of anthropogenic activities. It is therefore recommended that policy makers and indeed beekeepers in these zones as a matter of urgency should embark on extensive propagation afforestation and conservation of these predominant honey plants within their apiaries to improve food security income generation for farmers and as carbon repossession in the ecosystem.

Full text available from: Official URL: http://jssm.umt.edu.my/files/2013/07/12w.pdf

Abstract

Honey is a natural product that acts directly on our biological systems in a significant number of ways. Amongst the health benefits of honey are it's antioxidant antifungal anticancer and bacteriostatic properties to its free fat and cholesterol values. Today the density and availability of these plant species which honey bees forage for nectar are threatened by the vicious impact of climate change environmental degradation and over exploitation by man for his livelihood options. Systematic identification and documentation of these species is the basic prerequisite for their conservation and sustainability. The major aim of this work was to evaluate palynologically after acetolysis the pollen spectrum of five honey samples from three zones in Southern Nigeria. The results showed diversity of fifty-sixty (56) honey plants belonging to twenty one (21) plant families distributed within 53 genera comprising of 19 dicots and 2 months. Three predominants families were frequently encountered these Fabaceae Euphorbiaceae and Anacardiaceae contributing a total of 1672.74 plants pollen with 983.45(58.79) 372.9 (22.29) and 316.3(18.9) respectively. Fabaceae contributed the highest honey plant of (9) species Senna hirsuta L Danialla oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch Dalz. Brachystegia eurycoma Harms. Senna occidentale L. Link Isoberlinia dokas Craib Stapf Erythrina senegalensis D.C. Albizia zygia (DC.) Macbr Tephrosia brateolate Guill. Perr Tephrosia purpurea L. Parkia biglobosa (Jacq) R.ex Don-H.C. Entada abyssinica Steud. Ex A. Rich. Crotolaria retusa L. and Dialium guineense willd. Predominant honey plants were Anacardium occidentale L Ageratum conyzoides L D. oliveri Alchornea cordifolia Muell Arg Trichilia spp and Elaeis guineensis Jacq. With 31.14 32.48 39.9 58.74 35.26 and 60.92 respectively. The result equally reflected the habit and conservation status of these predominant honey plants. A part from A. occidentalis and E. guineensis which are cultivated others are found in the wild and are vulnerable to climate variability and change (threatened). Poor pollen spectrum recorded in some samples could be a reflection of loss of bioresources attributed to high level of anthropogenic activities. It is therefore recommended that policy makers and indeed beekeepers in these zones as a matter of urgency should embark on extensive propagation afforestation and conservation of these predominant honey plants within their apiaries to improve food security income generation for farmers and as carbon repossession in the ecosystem.

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Item Type:	Article
AGROVOC Term:	Honey plants
AGROVOC Term:	Germplasm conservation
AGROVOC Term:	Honey
AGROVOC Term:	Honeybees
AGROVOC Term:	Apis mellifera
AGROVOC Term:	Pollen
AGROVOC Term:	Fabaceae
AGROVOC Term:	Euphorbiaceae
AGROVOC Term:	Anacardiaceae
AGROVOC Term:	Elaeis guineensis
Depositing User:	Mr. AFANDI ABDUL MALEK
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 00:54
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/8708

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