New research from the University of Göttingen reveals the significant role pollinator species and crop varieties play in determining fruit quality. This study emphasizes the need to focus on both pollination quantity and quality for better consumer health and agricultural benefits.
In a breakthrough study, researchers from the University of Göttingen have shed light on the intricate connections between pollinators, their movement patterns and crop varieties, and how these factors jointly influence the quality of fruits. Published in Trends in Plant Science, the study challenges the conventional focus on pollinator quantity and calls for a nuanced understanding of their species-specific behaviors and interactions with crop varieties.
Pollinators, including bees and other animals, are essential for the production of numerous crops that make up a significant portion of the global food supply. According to the study, these pollinators contribute to a third of the world’s food production.
However, the researchers argue that the emphasis has been overly skewed towards promoting pollinators indiscriminately, without sufficiently considering how the specific type of pollinator and their interaction with particular crop varieties can affect fruit quality.
Crops that depend wholly or partly on animal pollinators — such as many fruits, nuts and pulses — contain more than 90% of the vitamin C in our diet, as well as other nutritionally important compounds like carotenoids and antioxidants, the researchers highlight. The study provides examples such as bees enhancing the nutritional profile of rapeseed and increasing the oil content and weight of avocados.
The University of Göttingen team — Teja Tscharntke, a professor of agroecology, Carolina Ocampo-Ariza, a doctoral candidate in Tscharntke’s group, and Wiebke Kämper, a postdoctoral fellow — underscores the importance of focusing on pollination quality.
“The results of our review show that future research should not only focus on the quantity, but also more on the quality of the crops. After all, a better nutrient composition benefits the health of consumers,” the authors asserted in a news release. They advocate for strategies that promote cross-pollination and account for the diversity of crop plants and the quality of pollen.
One of the surprising insights from the study is how the network of interactions between pollinators and plants influences crop quality. The research explains that pollen transfer can fail if the behavior of pollinators or the spatial arrangement of plants is altered. Therefore, the quality of the crops is intricately linked to how different pollinator species interact over time and space.
The researchers call for a comprehensive approach to designing cultivated areas and surrounding landscapes to facilitate effective movement and interaction of pollinators.
“This includes promoting cross-pollination by taking into account the variety of the crop plants and the quality of the pollen,” they added. “In addition, the quality of self-pollinated and cross-pollinated varieties should be compared and the design of the cultivated areas and the surrounding landscape should be organized in such a way that pollinators can move around as effectively as possible.”
This research not only expands our understanding of the role of pollinators in food production but also opens new avenues for improving agricultural practices and crop quality. It highlights the possibility of designing better agricultural systems that could yield more nutritious and commercially valuable fruits, ultimately benefiting consumer health.