Journal of Tropical Biodiversity and Biotechnology
Vol 7, No 3 (2022): December

The Effectiveness of Stingless Bees on Pollination of Bitter Melon Plants Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae)

Andi Gita Maulidyah Indraswari Suhri (Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia)
RC Hidayat Soesilohadi (Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia)
Ramadhani Eka Putra (Agricultural Engineering Study Program, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia)
Rika Raffiudin (Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor 16911, Indonesia)
Hery Purnobasuki (Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Airlangga University, Surabaya, 60115 Indonesia)
Ali Agus (Animal Science Faculty, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia)
Sih Kahono (Research Center for Ecology and Ethnobiology, National research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia, 16911)



Article Info

Publish Date
05 Sep 2022

Abstract

This study aimed to measure the effectiveness of stingless bee Tetragonula cf. biroi pollination on the fruit formation of bitter melon Momordica charantia plants. We used hoods on the observed bitter melon plants. In the first hood, stingless bees are inserted to help pollinate 100 bitter melon plants, while in the other hoods, stingless bees are not inserted so that there is no assistance in pollinating the other 100 bitter melon plants. The method used is the focal sampling method for 25 days of observation. Based on the results of the study, stingless bee pollination assistance increased the percentage of the number of flowers that became fruit by 390%, the weight of seeds/fruit by 64%, number of seeds/fruit by 260%, fruit weight by 163%, fruit diameter by 91%, and fruit length by 86%. In addition to the size of the fruit, the shape of the bitter melon pollinated by bees is standard (long and straight). In contrast, the bitter melon that does not get pollination assistance grows with a bent shape resembling the letter "C." Bitter melon is an agricultural commodity that needs pollinating agents such as stingless bees because of its monoecy. 

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Journal Info

Abbrev

jtbb

Publisher

Subject

Agriculture, Biological Sciences & Forestry Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology Environmental Science Immunology & microbiology

Description

Journal of Tropical Biodiversity and Biotechnology (JTBB) is an authoritative source of information concerned with the advancement of tropical biology studies in the Southeast Asia Region. It publishes original scientific work related to a diverse range of fields in tropical biodiversity, functional ...