Pollination is essential for food production in the world, but in pollinator-dependent crops it relies on the
attraction of pollinators to flowers. However, crop varieties vary in their attractiveness to flower visitors and
volatile compounds emitted by flowers may play a significant role in attracting or repelling pollinators. Here, we investigated the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in both male and hermaphrodite flowers of five commercial types of melon Cucumis melo (Cantaloupe, Charentais, Galia, Piel de Sapo, and Yellow), and their role in attracting or repelling Apis mellifera foragers. We found significant variation in the identity and
proportion of these chemical compounds produced by both melon types and flower genders and observed
significant positive and negative correlations between the amount of D-Limonene and Benzaldehyde (bee
attractants) and α-Pinene (bee repellent), respectively, to the number of bee visits to flowers particularly in the
Cantaloupe type and hermaphrodite flowers, the most visited ones. Our results suggest that differences in the
composition of melon floral VOCs and the proportion of the different compounds play a significant role in the
number of visits by A. mellifera with possible implications to pollination and fruit yield. It also implies the
perspective of breeding varieties are more attractive to pollinators through the selection of flower lines richer in bee-attractant and/or poorer in bee-repellent volatiles.
Volatile organic compound’s role in selective pollinator visits to commercial melon types
Year: 2019
