Pollination and Plant Resources Change the Nutritional Quality of Almonds for Human Health

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Insect-pollinated crops provide important nutrients for human health. Pollination, water and nutrients available to crops can influence yield, but it is not known if the nutritional value of the crop is also influenced. Almonds are an important source of critical nutrients for human health such as unsaturated fat and vitamin E. We manipulated the pollination of almond trees and the resources available to the trees, to investigate the impact on the nutritional composition of the crop. The pollination treatments were: (a) exclusion of pollinators to initiate self-pollination and (b) hand cross-pollination; the plant resource treatments were: (c) reduced water and (d) no fertilizer. In an orchard in northern California, trees were exposed to a single treatment or a combination of two (one pollination and one resource). Both the fat and vitamin E composition of the nuts were highly influenced by pollination. Lower proportions of oleic to linoleic acid, which are less desirable from both a health and commercial perspective, were produced by the self-pollinated trees. However, higher levels of vitamin E were found in the self-pollinated nuts. In some cases, combined changes in pollination and plant resources sharpened the pollination effects, even when plant resources were not influencing the nutrients as an individual treatment. This study highlights the importance of insects as providers of cross-pollination for fruit quality that can affect human health, and, for the first time, shows that other environmental factors can sharpen the effect of pollination. This contributes to an emerging field of research investigating the complexity of interactions of ecosystem services affecting the nutritional value and commercial quality of crops.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummere90082
ZeitschriftPLoS ONE
Jahrgang9
Ausgabenummer2
Anzahl der Seiten7
ISSN1932-6203
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 27.02.2014

Dokumente

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Menschen und Singvögel
  2. Nachhaltigkeitsbarometer: Befragung von Jugendlichen
  3. Entropy
  4. Il dibattito sull'immagine a partire dall'Iconic Turn
  5. Uncertainty Promotes Neuroreductionism
  6. Sachunterricht: Fundstücke aus der Wissenschaftsgeschichte
  7. Jugendliche Identitätskonstruktionen im Spannungsfeld schulischer Normkonformität und abweichender Verhaltensweisen
  8. Ausschreibungsmodelle für Erneuerbare Energien
  9. Selbstreflexion und kollegialer Austausch
  10. Effects of orientations to happiness on vocational identity achievement.
  11. Papierboot
  12. "Einheitsschule"
  13. Hinaus in die Natur!
  14. Die rote Perücke
  15. § 290 Verzinsung des Wertersatzes
  16. Popular music in ex-Yugoslavia between global participation and provincial seclusion
  17. Antibiotic residues in livestock manure
  18. Kapitalgesellschaftsrechtlicher Gläubigerschutz
  19. Gesichter im Sand
  20. Perceived inclusivity and trust in protected area management decisions among stakeholders in Alaska
  21. Klassentestheft Teil 1 (10 Ex.) - 2. Schuljahr
  22. Einzelschule
  23. Verwaltungsmodernisierung in Niedersachsen
  24. Das extraordinäre Haus eines außerordentlichen Professors
  25. Education for a sustainable development – European Approaches
  26. Hydrological determination of groundwater drainage by Leaky Sewer Systems
  27. From “Decent work and economic growth” to “Sustainable work and economic degrowth”
  28. On Freedom, Power, Justice
  29. The economic insurance value of ecosystem resilience
  30. Robust estimates of exporter productivity premia in German business services enterprises
  31. Außerschulische Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung
  32. Women on management board and ESG performance
  33. 131er-Gesetzgebung