Drying Methods Effect on Chemical Content of Pollen, Study of Oil Palm Pollen as Honeybee Feed

Abstract

Oil palm ( Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is a plant that is used as raw material for various food products, medicines, cosmetics and energy sources. Oil palm has a productive age of up to 25-26 years, harvested from the age of 3-4 years, and reaches peak production at the age of 9-14 years. As a fruit-producing plant, oil palm produces compound flowers in the form of a tuft and increases in number with age, thus providing the potential for pollinating insects such as bees to obtain pollen as a protein source for their colonies. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference between sun dried pollen and oven-dried pollen on chemical contents as honeybee feed. The research used two pollen drying methods with sun drying and oven drying at 60°C in 4 hours and analyzed with a completely randomized design (CRD) method with 6 treatments and 4 replications. The result showed that the drying method gave some different effects (P<0.01) on proteins, fat, and ash contents, so it can be concluded that the drying method had some effect on nutrient content. The conclusion of this study is the oven drying method had lower water contents that prevent the pollen from easily rotten and had higher proteins, fat, and carbohydrate contents that are beneficial for honeybee colonies.