Thijs Fijen (@thijsfijen.bsky.social)

Bee pollination increases fruit weight and antioxidants in pumpkins - Arthropod-Plant Interactions Due to the global decline of pollinators, global food security is at risk. Crops essentially dependent on pollinators such as pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne, Cucurbitaceae) are the most affected. Although the importance of pollinators for crop productivity is known, there are many gaps in knowledge regarding the influence of pollination on crop quality, especially on the chemical composition of fruits and seeds. Here, we evaluated the relationship between floral display, frequency of visits and crop production, using three pumpkin plantations in the semi-arid region of NE Brazil as a model. In all sites we recorded floral display, floral visitors, and compared fruit set, fruit quality and seed number between natural (NP) and cross (CP) pollination experiments. Bees were the main pollinators, and Apis mellifera and Trigona spinipes were the most frequent. Floral display was positively correlated with the total number of visits, which had a positive relation with fruit weight, specifically because of T. spinipes visits. Visitation by A. mellifera had a negative relationship with pericarp length. Fruit set was about 9% higher in NP than in CP, whose fruits had lower antioxidant activity than the former. Floral display was positively related to the frequency of visits of pumpkin produced in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil. Bees were the main pollinators, especially T. spinipes and A. mellifera, which positively influenced fruit weight. Thus, pollinators favored fruit set, weight, and quality, in addition to promoting antioxidant potential. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11829-025-10211-8