Study the Nectars' Chemical Composition of Apple, Cherry and Pumpkin

It is very important to attract pollinators to proper pollination of specific crops, especially commercial crop production. Plants produce attractive substances to attract pollinators in floral nectar and defenders in extra-floral nectar. Whereas nectars must function in the context of plantanimal mutualisms, their chemical composition makes them also attractive for non-mutualistic, exploiting organisms: nectar robbers and nectar-infesting microorganisms. Carbohydrates and fatty acids in flowers usually function in the attraction of mutualists and appear adapted to the physiological needs of the respective mutualists. Volatiles are a further group of compounds that serves in the attractive function of nectars. In this paper, chemical composition (fatty acids and volatile components) of the nectar of the flowers of apple, cherry and pumpkin were determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Four types of fatty acids such as palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), linolenic (C18:2), linolenic (C18:3) and arachic (C20:0); and different types of volatile components such as: asarone, hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, phytol, 2-Nonadecanone, decalactone, Dodecalactone, 7-Hexadecenal, 1-Eicosanol, hydnocarpic acid, squalene and some unidentified compounds were extracted from nectars’ extracts of apple, cherry, pumpkin flowers. The result of the present study will be helpful to know the visiting pollinators of these flowers, as well as to prepare pollinators attractant, which can be used to entice the pollinators to the target crops, ensuring optimum pollination and productivity. By using these attractants, pollination of the target crop can be achieved at critical time: threatened by poor weather conditions or having less resource in terms of nectar and pollen.